The mid-week July 4 holiday has both import and US domestic spot prices for J55 electric resistance welded (ERW) oil country tubular goods (OCTG) casing order activity trending quietly, according to SteelOrbis sources.US domestic spot offerings have ticked down approximately $2.00 cwt. ($44/mt or $40/nt) since our last report a week ago and are now in the $63.00-$65.00 cwt. ($1,389-$1,43 /mt or $1,260-$1,280/nt) ex-Midwest mill range, although activity for the current week is extremely quiet due to many taking extra days off to extend the holiday.
Import offer prices from Taiwan and Korea to the US are also down this week, by about $1.00 cwt. ($22/mt or $20/nt) over prices reported throughout June, and are now in the range of $47.00-$49.00 cwt. ($1,036-$1,080/mt or $940-$980/nt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports. Vietnamese offers s are approximately $0.50-$1.00 cwt. ($11-$22/mt or $10-$20/nt)above their import counterparts, although deals are available for large volume buyers . Despite a plethora of offers, traders indicated that import bookings remain sparse and not many potential buyers are giving imports too much attention due to long lead times.