Sources close to SteelOrbis have indicated that offshore mills previously quoting offers for US import OCTG to the US have slowly stepped back from the market.
“It’s quiet, because right now everyone is just reacting,” a source said. “I think it’s going to be at least another week or two before they start quoting again. Things need to calm down and the emotion in all of this needs to subside.”
Another source indicated a strong belief that J55 ERW OCTG tubing will be the most interesting US import product in the second half of 2018.
“Korean mills are already getting hammered by the revised AD/CVD duties and the Section 232 will only exacerbate the issue, if the US decides to hit South Africa, Turkey and Taiwan,” he said. “It’s just to make any calls on what’s going to happen this early on.”
In terms of the most recently heard US import OCTG pricing, prior to pulling their offers, the most commonly heard transaction range for US import J55 ERW OCTG casing from Taiwan in the US domestic market was heard at $40.00-$41.00 cwt. ($882-$904/mt or $800-$820/nt), DDP loaded truck in US Gulf coast ports.