Chinese welded pipe producers continue to face downward price pressure amid scarce trading activity in the domestic market as buyers have already started to leave the market ahead of the country's New Year holiday. Domestic welded pipe prices of producers in China have fallen by RMB 50-200/mt ($8-32/mt) over the past two weeks, while Chinese traders have cut their offers for local buyers by RMB 20-100/mt ($3-16/mt) over the same period. China's welded pipe export prices have also declined by $10-15/mt over the past two weeks amid slack overseas demand and unpromising market conditions. Market participants feel pessimistic about the prospects for the market and believe that welded pipe prices are unlikely to rebound in the coming period.
Current offers of locally produced 2"-6" welded pipes of grade B as per ASTM A53 are being given to the Chinese domestic market at an average of RMB 3,380-3,500/mt ($542-561/mt) ex-works, while domestic offers of welded pipes of grade Q195-235 are at levels of RMB 2,800-3,100/mt ($449-497/mt) ex-works. These local market welded pipe prices include 17 percent VAT.
Traders in Shanghai are offering Q215-Q235 welded pipes made to GB/T3091 at around RMB 2,600-2,750/mt ($417-441/mt) ex-warehouse, while stockists in the cities of Tianjin and Beijing are offering similar pipes at RMB 2,400-2,720/mt ($3854-436/mt) ex-warehouse.
Current export prices of welded pipes from large Chinese mills, 2"-10" grade B according to ASTM A53, are at around $465-500/mt FOB on actual weight basis.
$1 = RMB 6.24