The Bulgarian market for welded pipes is still quiet, while producers have kept their prices unchanged over the past two weeks. Bulgarian pipe producers are still facing slack demand from local buyers due to low consumption in the country amid insufficient financing of new infrastructure projects. Meanwhile, customers from Germany, Slovakia, Poland and Romania are showing moderate interest in Bulgarian welded pipes. Welded pipe producers in Bulgaria think that any price growth is almost impossible in the coming short-term period as demand is not expected to improve significantly. Accordingly, market players expect quotations of welded pipes from Bulgarian producers will likely remain stable in the coming period.
Current offers of locally produced welded pipes and hollow sections of 2-5 mm wall thickness made from S235JR grade hot rolled coil (HRC) according to EN 10219 are being given to the Bulgarian domestic market at around €560-565/mt ($717-723/mt) ex-works, exclusive of 20 percent VAT and on theoretical weight basis.
Export quotations of Bulgarian ERW pipes and hollow sections of 2-5 mm wall thickness made from S235JR grade HRC as per EN 10219 are at the level of €500-520/mt ($640-666/mt) ex-works on theoretical weight basis for September production. Offers of similar Bulgarian pipes with wall thickness of 1.5 mm made from HRC as per EN 10219 are at around €530-550/mt ($678-704/mt) ex-works for September rolling. Export quotations of Bulgarian water and gas pipes according to EN 10255 are at €520-540/mt ($666-691/mt) ex-works.
€1 = $1.28