Last week, US Steel announced it would be shuttering two of its pipe mills, citing falling oil prices and lagging activity.
This week, although the “average” spot market price for US domestic OCTG remains in the range of $49-$54 cwt. ($1,080-$1,191/mt or $980-$1,080/nt), ex-mill, a growing number of transactions are taking place at or toward the bottom end of that range.
“It’s completely dead out there,” a source noted. “There is absolutely nothing going on,” noting that US crude prices fell below $20 per barrel on Monday, their lowest level in about 18 years.
News outlets speculate that global oil consumption, which is already down by 25%, could fall even further in April, due to widespread stay-at-home orders throughout the globe.