So far in January, import J55 electric resistance welded (ERW) oil country tubular goods (OCTG) casing activity has been strong, and traders tell SteelOrbis that they've been extremely busy in the past week, as import prices appeared to have hit a temporary bottom last week and are now starting to firm. In particular, Korean mills had dropped offer prices to the US last week in order to fill up order books--by as much as $2.50 cwt. ($55/mt or $50/nt) to about $48.50 cwt. ($1,069/mt or $970/nt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports--but have started to raise prices once again. Current Korean offers are between $49.00-$51.00 cwt. ($1,080-$1,124/mt or $980-$1,020/nt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports.
Vietnamese mills are out of the market for the time being, reportedly full through April shipments. Turkey, meanwhile, is garnering a lot of US-buyer interest and as of late, and many buyers have been turning to Turkey for their import needs rather than their traditional source, Korea. Currently, Turkish prices are the most competitive in the range of $47.50-$48.50 cwt. ($1,047-$1,069/mt or $950-970/nt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports.
The US domestic market has also picked up in the last week and spot availability from mills has been more difficult to come by. The little spot buying activity taking place is occurring between $66.00-$67.00 cwt. ($1,455-$1,477/mt or $1,320-$1,340/nt) ex-mill, reflecting no change from last week.