Activity in the Italian seamless pipe market is still quiet amid poor demand from the consuming industries. However, buying activity from overseas buyers, in particular, from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, is recovering gradually. In this environment, prices for Italian seamless pipes in the domestic market have remained practically unmoved over the past month, while export offers have increased by around €20/mt ($27/mt). In the import segment, offers of Chinese material have moved up by €20/mt ($27/mt). Prices of Ukrainian, Romanian and Czech pipes have mostly stayed unchanged over the period under review.
Meanwhile, Italian buyers remain cautious about placing orders amid tight liquidity and poor demand from consuming industries. Besides, export demand for Italian premium OCTG products, particularly in regions such as the Middle East and Africa, is expected to strengthen, while sales in European industrial markets may remain low.
Current domestic prices for Italian seamless pipes of 2"-10" size of grade B as per ASTM are at about €950-1,100/mt ($1,287-1,490/mt) ex-works.
Export quotations of Italian seamless pipes of 2"-4" Sch 40 of grade B as per ASTM A106 are at around €970-1,050/mt ($1,314-1,422/mt) FCA or €1,000-1,080/mt ($1,354-1,463/mt) FOB. Export offers of 8"-10" seamless pipes are at about €1,140-1,160/mt ($1,544-1,571/mt) FOB.
Prices for Chinese seamless pipes, 2"-6" grade B made to ASTM, are at about €660-720/mt ($894-975/mt) CFR Italy. Prices are exclusive of antidumping (AD) duties of 17.7-39.2 percent.
January production Ukrainian 2"-6" seamless pipes as per GOST, ASTM or EN are offered to the Italian market at around €710-730/mt ($962-989/mt) CPT (12.3-13.8 percent AD duty not included).
Prices for Romanian origin seamless steel tubes (ArcelorMittal Roman) of 3"-10" grade B made to ASTM or as per EN are at about €960-1,000/mt ($1,300-1,354/mt) CPT.
Czech origin 3"-10" seamless steel tubes (ArcelorMittal Ostrava), as per ASTM, are quoted for Italian consumers at around €950-980/mt ($1,287-1,327/mt) CPT.
€1 = $1.35