It’s another week of steady as she goes for the
US domestic and import A-53 electric resistance welded (ERW) black plain end (BPE) Grade A standard pipe markets, with order activity, inquiries and overall volume still trending in a “nothing to write home about” range. Domestic producers, as with others in the pipe sector, had been hoping to get prices up due to the uptrend in upstream material costs, but market conditions are simply not supportive of spot price firming. Today, the most commonly reported ex-Midwest mill transaction range is unchanged in the past two weeks at $45.00-$46.00 cwt. ($992-$1,014/mt or $900-$920/nt), but as in previous weeks, deals are available to anyone who is looking to book significant tonnages.
Import offer prices from
Vietnam have also held at neutral, still at approximately $37.50-$38.50 cwt. ($827-$849/mt or $750-$770/mt CFR, DDP loaded truck in
US Gulf Coast ports. In terms of Taiwanese offers, those continue to be quoted about $0.50 cwt. ($11/mt or $10/nt) below the Vietnamese range.