Quotations of welded pipes in Italy have continued to decrease over the past month due to lackluster demand from consuming industries and a downturn in feedstock prices. Over the past month, Italian suppliers of welded pipes have been forced to cut their domestic and export offers by €20-50/mt ($62-99/mt). At the same time, Turkish suppliers have left their prices unchanged at the previous levels, while Bulgarian producers have decreased their offers by €70-75/mt ($124-129/mt). Market participants believe business activity is unlikely to recover in the near future in Italy due to the unstable financial and economic situation in Europe and the approach of the summer holiday period. Italian buyers are pushing welded pipe suppliers for additional decreases, but domestic pipe producers are trying to resist further downward movement of prices.
Current local prices for Italian welded pipes of 2"-6" size with wall thickness of 2.0-4.0 mm as per EN 10219 made from base steel grade S235JR HR coils are at about €600-650/mt ($748-811/mt) ex-works. Prices are shown on actual weight basis and excluding 21 percent VAT. Domestic prices for standard-size precision welded tubes of E235 grade as per EN 10305-3 are at about €700-730/mt ($873-910/mt) ex-works.
Export quotations of Italian 2"-6" welded pipes as per EN 10219 are at about €630-680/mt ($786-848/mt) FOB (transportation by sea) or €600-650/mt ($748-811/mt) ex-works (transportation overland). In particular, offer prices for Spain are in the range of €630-680/mt ($786-848/mt) CPT.
Offers from Turkish suppliers of industrial welded pipes with 2-4 mm wall thickness made from HR coils are being given at an average of €630-650/mt ($786-811/mt) CFR to Italy and at €650-680/mt ($811-848/mt) CFR to Spain.
Offers of Bulgarian welded pipes to the Spanish market are standing at an average of €560-590/mt ($698-736/mt) CPT on theoretical weight basis.
€1 = $1.247