Trading activity in the Chinese seamless pipe market has been scarce over the past two weeks as demand and production slowed down ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday. Domestic seamless pipe prices of producers in China have dropped by a maximum of RMB 50/mt ($9/mt) over the past two weeks, while Chinese seamless pipe producers' export quotations have declined by $20-40/mt over the same period. Chinese traders have managed to keep their offers for local buyers stable over the period under review. It is expected that the market will move sideways during the Spring Festival holiday period (February 18-24).
Domestic prices of 4"-8" seamless pipes according to GB/8162-8163 are varying at around RMB 3,800-4,150/mt ($607-663/mt) ex-works, including 17 percent VAT.
Chinese ex-stock prices for 2"-8" seamless pipes according to GB/8162-8163 in Shanghai are at around RMB 3,200-3,500/mt ($511-559/mt) ex-warehouse, including 17 percent VAT, while traders in Tianjin and Beijing are offering the same pipes at around RMB 3,150-3,450/mt ($503-551/mt) ex-warehouse.
Current export quotations from most Chinese manufacturers for 2"-6" Sch40 grade B seamless pipes according to ASTM A106/API 5L are on average at $510-550/mt FOB.
$1 = RMB 6.26