Spot market prices for US domestic Grade A ERW BPE standard pipe continues to firm, sources note, but the price uptrend seen across all US steel products may be running out of steam.
Pricing reported at approximately $54 cwt. ($1191/mt or $1080/nt), ex-mill in late March is now trending between $55-$57 cwt. ($1213-$1257 or $1100-$1140/nt), ex-mill.
This is marked year-on-year jump from early April 2017, when spot market prices for Grade A ERW BPE standard pipe were being heard in the range of $49-$50 cwt. ($1080-$1102/mt or $980-$1000/nt), ex-mill.
“Prices are up, but a lot of people are expressing concern over how long this will last, especially if some of the Section 232 tariff exemptions are made permanent,” a source said. “It’s causing a lot of uncertainty in the market, because no one wants to take on any inventory positions because there’s some fear that spot market prices will have ticked down a notch or two by the time the order gets delivered.”