Futures import prices for US import unfinished J55 electric resistance weld (ERW) oil country tubular goods (OCTG) casing from Korean and Taiwanese mills may be unchanged in the past seven days, but sources close to SteelOrbis have confirmed that Nexteel (who apparently has an overflowing order book) is telling US customers that they may have misspoke in terms of a March shipment date for current orders. “Anything that was quoted for March shipment is not going to ship until April or May,” according to Midwest-based trader source. “Essentially, anything booked today won’t arrive until July of next year.” Suffice to say, that’s leaving a lot of would-be buyers turned off, as the attractive price points aren't enough to compensate for the prohibitive lead times. This could, however, bode well for Brazilian producers, who are still fluttering about the market and are anxious to book some tons.
In terms of pricing, futures offers out of Korea have held steady at approximately $52.00-$53.00 cwt. ($1,146-$1,168/mt or $1,040-$1,060/nt), DDP loaded truck in US Gulf coast ports, while offers from Taiwanese producers are trending about $1.00 cwt. ($22/mt or $20/nt) below that range. And while Brazil seems to have stepped out of the market in the immediate sense, they are expected to come back with offers in a range that are about $4.00 cwt. ($88/mt or $80/nt) below their Korean counterparts. US prices are also unwavered since our last report a week ago, still at approximately $59.00-$61.00 cwt. ($1,300-$1344/mt or $1,180-$1,220/nt) ex-Midwest mill. Although sources close to SteelOrbis continue to report that US producers continue to push for higher prices, mills have been unable to achieve that goal.