Pricing for import API X-52 line pipe from Korea in the US domestic market has inched up by $1.00 cwt. ($22/mt or $20/nt) since our last report a week ago, which brings the current average transaction range to $43.50-$44.50 cwt. ($959-$981/mt or $870-$890/nt), DDP loaded truck in US Gulf coast ports.
Pricing out of Mexico, however, continues to hold at $50-$54 cwt. ($1102-$1191/mt or $1000-$1080/nt), FOB Houston, depending on the originating mill.
Market players, however, say their prime point of interest this week is news that the US Department of Commerce has submitted their Section 232 findings to Donald Trump. Sources close to SteelOrbis say that while the move is significant, the failure of the DOC to make the details of their recommendations public has many questioning how much, if any, benefit the Section 232 investigation will bring to the domestic steel industry.
According to US law, the president has 90 days to decide on any potential action based on the findings of the investigation. Some SteelOrbis sources have expressed concern that “with the economy doing so well, and with tax cuts finally being passed, that levying steep tariffs on steel imports and starting an international trade war could throw a wrench into the [US] economy.”