The Italian seamless pipe market has continued to see slack business activity, in line with expectations. Slowdowns in industrial production rates in Europe as well as subdued construction and automotive markets have led to lower levels of seamless pipe consumption. Italian suppliers have cut their prices for standard seamless pipes by a maximum of €20/mt ($27/mt) over the past month amid the deterioration in raw material prices and weakening demand prospects in the region. During the period under review, quotations of Chinese and Ukrainian seamless pipes have decreased by €20-30/mt ($27-40/mt), while Romanian and Czech producers have left their offer prices unchanged.
Although seamless pipe suppliers continue to struggle with sluggish demand in the Italian market, market players do not expect any significant declines in the coming period as mills would prefer to restrict supply rather than face further price cuts.
Current domestic prices for Italian seamless pipes of 2"-6" size of grade B as per ASTM are at about €1,000-1,030/mt ($1,330-1,370/mt) ex-works, while offers of 8"-10" seamless pipes are at around €1,050-1,080/mt ($1,397-1,436/mt) ex-works.
Export quotations of Italian seamless pipes of 2"-10" Sch 40 of grade B as per ASTM A106 are at around €1,000-1,080/mt ($1,330-1,436/mt) FCA or €1,030-1,110/mt ($1,370-1,476/mt) FOB for August-September production.
Prices for Chinese seamless pipes, 2"-6" grade B made to ASTM, are at about €640-700/mt ($851-931/mt) CFR Italy. Prices are exclusive of antidumping (AD) duties of 17.7-39.2 percent.
June production Ukrainian 2"-6" seamless pipes as per GOST, ASTM or EN are offered to the Italian market at around €730-750/mt ($971-998 /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 €960-970/mt ($1,277-1,290/mt) CPT.
Czech origin 3"-10" seamless steel tubes (ArcelorMittal Ostrava), as per ASTM, are quoted for Italian consumers at around €940-950/mt ($1,250-1,264/mt) CPT.
€1 = $1.33