The welded pipe market in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is more or less silent due to the ongoing month of Ramadan. Quotations for locally produced welded pipes have decreased by $5-20/mt over the past month, as activity in the market is currently very slow on the back of reduced working hours in Ramadan and the hot summer weather which restricts construction work.
Chinese and Indian suppliers have maintained their offers at the levels of one month ago. Local producers of welded pipes in the UAE do not plan to cut their prices further in August citing higher import offer prices of flat steel. At the same time, market insiders expect to see higher demand for welded pipes in September when buyers return to the market after the end-of-Ramadan holiday.
UAE domestic prices for locally produced ½"-4" welded pipes with 2-4 mm wall thickness of grade B made to ASTM A53 or BS 1387 are at about $845-900/mt ex-works. Prices are given on actual weight basis.
Domestic quotations of ½"-4" welded pipes with 1.2-2.0 mm wall thickness of grade B made to ASTM A53 or BS 1387 are at about $880-980/mt ex-works.
Current domestic prices of 1"-4" galvanized ERW pipes with 2-4 mm wall thickness made to BS 1387 (light series) are in the range of $1,025-1,050/mt ex-works.
Offers of Chinese ERW pipes up to 10" grade B as per ASTM A53/API 5L are being given to the UAE market at about $850-900/mt CFR.
Indian suppliers are offering ERW pipes, 1"-6" as per BS 1387 (light series), to the UAE at the previous level, i.e., at $910-930/mt CFR.