Orders, activity and inquiries within the US domestic and import J55 ERW OCTG casing markets are unchanged week-over-week, although sources close to SteelOrbis have said that there are a growing number of deals for in-stock items at the service center level, which is consistent with the typical year-end selling pattern.
“The market is still well supplied, and people aren’t desperate for pipe, but the service centers want to thin their inventories before the close of the year,” a source said. “It’s all pretty standard and it’s nothing that we haven’t expected.”
Ex-mill pricing for domestic J55 ERW OCTG casing, however, is still consistent, at $60.00-$62.50 cwt. ($1,322-$1,378/mt or $1,200-$1,250/nt).
As of late last week, the US rotary rig count remains strong, and is currently 15.8 percent higher than it was during the same reporting period in 2017; the most recent oil rig count was tallied at 887, with market sources noting that oil exploration is up by more than 18 percent, year-over-year.
In terms of oil barrel prices, major news outlets today have reported that prices rose slightly ahead of an expected OPEC announcement regarding production cuts.