On April 10, the US Department of Commerce is scheduled to announce its ruling on the administrative review of antidumping margins against US import oil country tubular goods (OCTG) from Korean steelmakers.
At the current time, AD duties against Korean OCTG casing span from 3.98 percent to 5.24 percent; market players cite concern that an underlying current of the review, which alleges that Korean OCTG is made using “dumped hot rolled coil from China,” could lead to a spike in AD margins against Korean OCTG exports to the US.
There is also concern that an affirmative decision to raise dumping margins against Korean OCTG could lead to a review of dumping margins against US import line pipe from Korean steelmakers.
“At this point, if the US DOC spikes the AD duties against Korean OCTG, it’s just about guaranteed that the margins against Korean line pipe will be reviewed,” a source said.
In October 2015, the US DOC announced they found dumping of imports of welded line pipe from Korean producers; AD margins were set at 2.53 percent to 6.19 percent.
“It’s a wait-and-see situation at this point,” the source continued.
In terms of current pricing, sources close to SteelOrbis continue to report that offer prices for Korean API X-52 line pipe in the US domestic market continue to trend at $42.50-$44.00 cwt. ($937-$970/mt or $850-$880/nt), DDP loaded truck in US Gulf coast ports.