If buyers and sellers of
US domestic and import Grade A electric resistance weld (ERW) black plain end (BPE) standard pipe were asked to sum up the market using one, single word, the most commonly heard response would likely be “boring”.
Order activity and inquiries are on par with where they were in the beginning part of the month, according to SteelOrbis sources, with
US domestic spot prices having held at approximately $47.00-$48.00 cwt. ($1,036-$1,058/mt or $940-$960/nt) ex-Midwest mill, while futures offers from
Taiwan and
Vietnam have remained in the respective ranges of $38.50-$39.50 cwt. ($849-$871/mt or $770-$790/nt), and $39.00-$40.00 cwt. ($860-$882/mt or $780-$800/nt), both DDP loaded truck in
US Gulf Coast ports. What is of interest, however, is that price increases seem to be on the horizon for
US domestic scrap and
US domestic hot rolled coil (HRC) after the close of the Labor Day holiday. If those increases are in fact absorbed, standard pipe producers may try to roll out a price increase of their own.