Orders, activity and inquiries within the US domestic and import J55 ERW OCTG casing markets are quiet during the current week, as many have taken this week off to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday.
As with last week, pricing for US domestic J55 ERW OCTG casing is still trending in the range of $60.00-$62.50 cwt. ($1,322-$1,378/mt or $1,200-$1,250/nt), ex-mill, although downtrending US HRC prices have some sources indicating that mills are more willing to negotiate deals based on tonnage.
Service center spot market pricing, however, is “still too hard to pinpoint” because prices are “all over the place,” which is consistent with ex-service center pricing during the last months of the year. “Everyone is trying to get ahead of the year-end inventory tax,” a source said. “Fire sale season has officially begun.”