Following months of stock-ups, import API X-42 electric resistance welded (ERW) line pipe activity has been quiet so far in March, but a big drop in some offer prices to the US may help to jump-start activity. Korean and Indian mills have dropped offer prices to the US by about $1.50 cwt. ($33/mt or $30/nt) since last week, to $46.00-$47.00 cwt. ($1,014-$1,036/mt or $920-$940/nt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports, and Taiwanese offer prices are within a similar range. Imports arriving in the US this month and filling up US buyer inventories remains a major obstacle to boosting futures buying, however. US Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) data indicate that 217,724 mt (license data) arrived in the US as of March 27, compared to 144,439 mt (preliminary census data) in February. March arrivals are also substantially higher than in most months over the past year.
Consequently, with many US buyers holding high inventories of both import and US domestic material, domestic purchasing is tepid. US buyers continue to make only as-needed purchases due to expectations that domestic API X-42 ERW line pipe spot prices in the range of $62.50-$63.50 cwt. ($1,378-$1,400/mt or $1,250-$1,270/nt) ex-mill, unchanged from last week, could weaken within a couple of weeks.