Summer lull takes hold in Italian seamless pipe market

The Italian seamless pipe market has been indicating a sideways trend over the past month as the lull in consumer buying activity over the traditionally slow summer period takes hold. Only offers of Chinese and Ukrainian materials have declined by around €5-10/mt ($11-17/mt) over the past month. Market players believe that any significant change to market dynamics before September is unlikely as buying activity will remain slow throughout the summer.
 
Current domestic prices for Italian seamless pipes of 2"-6" size as per ASTM or EN are at about €950-980/mt ($1,283-1,323/mt) ex-works.
 
Export quotations of Italian seamless pipes of 2"-6" Sch 40 of grade B as per ASTM A106 are at around €980-1,000/mt ($1,323-1,350/mt) FOB.
 
Prices for Chinese seamless pipes, 2"-6" grade B made to ASTM, are at about €590-630/mt ($797-850/mt) CFR Italy. Prices are exclusive of antidumping (AD) duties of 17.7-39.2 percent.
 
Ukrainian 2"-6" seamless pipes as per GOST, ASTM or EN are offered to the Italian market at around €740-760/mt ($999-1,026/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 €950-980/mt ($1,283-1,323/mt) CPT. 
 
Czech origin 3"-10" seamless steel tubes (ArcelorMittal Ostrava), as per ASTM, are quoted for Italian consumers at around €920-960/mt ($1,242-1,296/mt) CPT.
 
€1 = $1.35