The last few months saw rapid price increases for both import and domestics but expectations of another price increase have all but diminished in the last couple weeks. It is widely believed that domestic and import hollow section prices have peaked, and the pricing trend is neutral at best.
The flat rolled increases in
Turkey are now over, and domestic demand for
tubing in
Turkey has waned, as interest rates for new home building are increasing. The jitters about the
Israel-
Lebanon conflict will affect the entire Middle-East market negatively, which should soften the flat rolled and
tubing prices in that region further. Therefore, we will probably start seeing more
tubing imports from
Turkey at more competitive prices.
Turkish offers now range from $36.00 cwt. to $37.50 cwt. ($794 /mt to $827 /mt or $720 /nt to $750 /nt) for FOB, loaded truck, US Gulf Coast ports, same as two weeks ago. However, these prices are high and are not finding much acceptance in the market. Therefore, the pricing trend for Turkish
tubing is now slightly down.
Asian flat rolled prices have also peaked, and in turn, so have their
tubing prices. There is some room for Chinese
tubing prices to inch up slightly to catch up to Turkish and Korean prices, but a large downward correction is expected from the Turkish and Korean side. For now, there are still some Chinese
tubing offers on the market that are significantly cheaper than the offers from these two major exporters.
Chinese prices still range from $33.00 cwt. and $35.00 cwt. ($728 /mt to $772 /mt or $660 /nt to $700 /nt) FOB West Coast ports, and are approximately $0.50 cwt. higher for Houston discharge.
US government year-to-date (as of July 12) statistics show that the top three import sources of structural
pipe and
tubing this year, after
Canada, have been:
Turkey, at 47,490 mt;
Korea, at 45,849 mt; and
China, at 36,249 mt.
The domestic pricing trend for
tubing is also neutral, despite talk of more domestic flat rolled increases.
Tubing inventories are very healthy, so buyers are not eager to buy right now and can wait around for better deals to come around.
Domestic
tubing prices are still ranging from $47.00 cwt. to $48.00 cwt. ($1,036 /mt to $1,058 /mt or $940 /nt to $960 /nt) ex-works. Subject product is A500 grade A and grade B hollow sections up to 6”.