While vacillating in recent weeks, the US' oil rig count has been steadily healthy; low natural gas prices and therefore a conversion from natural gas to gas liquids and oil drilling has only further increased line pipe demand. Still, with US domestic flat rolled spot prices faltering in the last week, it isn't enough to issue a price increase, especially with the recent jump in arriving line pipe imports the last couple months. Even so, sources tell SteelOrbis that mills have been pushing up spot prices "here-and-there," but average API X-42 electric resistance welded (ERW) line pipe spot prices are largely between $61.00-$62.00 cwt. ($1,345-$1,367/mt or $1,220-$1,240/nt) ex-mill, although now trending toward the higher end.
As mentioned, there has been a noticeable increase in the volume of line pipe imports that have hit US ports recently. US Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) data show 218,591 mt (preliminary census data) of line pipe arrived in March and another 192,360 mt (license data) this month as of April 24, compared to 144,483 mt (census data) in February. Current import activity, on the other hand, is far less robust, as buyers' import needs have slowed on account of large inventory positions placed earlier this year. Even so, Korean, Taiwanese and Indian API X-42 ERW line pipe offer prices to the US are well below US spot prices in the range of $46.00-$47.00 cwt. ($1,014-$1,036/mt or $920-$940/nt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports, unchanged from last week.