Sluggish market activity continues to plague the US domestic J55 ERW OCTG casing market.
“The market is terrible,” a source said. “No one is buying anything they don’t need immediately out of fear that prices will be cheaper tomorrow. Everyone is watching scrap right now, which appears to be the key indicator for US steel market prices. Until scrap stabilizes, I expect demand will remain weak.
In terms of prices, the average spot market price transaction range has remained at $57.50-$60.50 cwt. ($1,268-$1,334/mt or $1,150-$1,210/nt), ex-mill, although buying activity has been described as “very light.”