Buyers of both US domestic and import standard pipe in the US have been placing minimal orders in the past few weeks, as they prepare for an imminent price correction. Mills have been trying to keep spot prices steady at $56.00-$58.00 cwt. ($1,235-$1,279/mt $1,120-$1,160/nt) ex- Midwest mill for electric resistance weld (ERW) black plain end (BPE) A53 Grade A standard pipe-unchanged from our last report two weeks ago. However, with purchasing activity moderate at best, the price trend is pointing downward for May.
The main concern for standard pipe buyers remains the immediate direction of US domestic hot rolled coil (HRC) prices which have fallen to a current range of about $40.00-$42.00 cwt. ($882-$926/mt or $800-$840/nt) ex-Midwest mill on the spot market; HRC spot prices dropped about $3.00 cwt. ($66/mt or $60/nt) over the course of April, and will continue to edge down in May.
Also affecting both domestic activity and import bookings is the high volume of standard pipe arriving into the US in both March and April. Preliminary census data from the Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) system indicate that the US imported 70,009 mt of standard pipe in March, compared to 52,469 mt (census data) in February. And license data point to 106,567 mt of imported pipe arriving into the US in April, primarily due to 61,647 mt coming from Japan. Japanese standard pipe exports to the US have statistically been approximately 1,000 mt per month over the last year, however Japanese mills exported 4,454 mt (preliminary census data) of standard pipe to the US in March.
Traders tell SteelOrbis that although inquiries have been steady over the past few weeks, actual booking activity is almost non-existent. Nevertheless, if buyers were looking to place an order, the most competitive offers available are being generated from Taiwan. Taiwanese offers of ERW BPE A53 Grade A standard pipe have not moved in the past two weeks, and are still approximately $48.50-$49.50 cwt. ($1,069-$1,091/mt or $970-$990/nt) duty-paid FOB loaded truck in US Gulf ports.
Elsewhere, both Malaysia and Dubai are offering ERW BPE A53 Grade A to the US, but at prices too high for any serious consideration. Offers from both Malaysia and Dubai are in the range of $53.00-$55.00 cwt. ($1,168-$1,213/mt or $1,060-$1,100/nt) and $53.00-$54.00 cwt. ($1,168-$1,190/mt or $1,060-$1,080/nt) respectively, both duty-paid FOB loaded truck in US Gulf ports. As for ERW galvanized plain end (GPE) Grade A pipe, offers from Indian mills are in the range of $56.00-$58.00 cwt. ($1,235-$1,279/mt or $1,120-$1,160/nt) duty-paid FOB loaded truck in US West Coast ports.