The most commonly heard spot market price range for US domestic J55 ERW OCTG casing is still holding in the range of $60.00-$62.50 cwt. ($1,322-$1,378/mt or $1,200-$1,250/nt), ex-mill, but sources close to SteelOrbis cite a strong belief that mills would be willing to negotiate deals due to sluggish order activity.
“I’m not sure what’s happened in the past two to three weeks, but our phones have all but died,” a source said. “It doesn’t make much sense considering that the rig count is still strong and energy prices are still high.”
Another source agreed but feels that the lackluster order inquiries are more tied to oversupply.
“The pipe shortage that everyone was worried would happen, never happened. There is no shortage,” he said. “The total rig count has been mostly flat, right around 1,050 and market fundamentals are still strong.”
Offshore pricing out of Korea is “completely silent,” sources note, adding that plain end J55 ERW OCTG casing from Taiwan is being offered at $55.00 cwt. ($1,213/mt or $1,100/nt), DDP loaded truck in US Gulf coast ports.