Last week, SteelOrbis reported that the average price for US domestic J55 ERW OCTG casing continued to trend in the range of $49-$54 cwt. ($1,080-$1,191/mt or $980-$1,080/nt), ex-mill. Yet while prices are largely stable, concerns about the impact of the coronavirus outbreak continue to swirl.
For example, yesterday global news outlets reported that OPEC was weighing how to react to a sharp dip in global demand for oil. Today, it was reported that OPEC and its allies recommended cutting oil output by an additional 1 million barrels per day, to offset declining demand.
Although oil producers have existing production cuts in place, they have not been enough to ward off downward price pressure to counter the impact that the coronavirus has had on Chinese demand. Price data indicate that oil barrel prices have fallen by 20% since early January.