Sources close to SteelOrbis say they’ve already started talking with customers about their anticipated needs for January and February of next year.
“We’re booking stuff for January and February delivery and the next few weeks will tell us a lot about what the market in early 2017 will look like,” one source said. “But what we see now is that customers who would have in the past, been running 5-6 oil rigs are now down to running maybe one, so it’s definitely still slow.”
In terms of current prices, futures offer prices for API X-42 line pipe from Korean have remained lateral since our last report a week ago, at approximately $26.50-$27.50 cwt. ($584-$606/mt or $530-$550/nt), DDP loaded truck in US Gulf coast ports. As with last week, US domestic pricing is still trending at $40.00-$42.00 cwt. ($882-$926/mt or $800-$840/nt), ex-Midwest mill.