Although import J55 electric resistance welded (ERW) oil country tubular goods (OCTG) casing offers from Taiwan and Korea to the US have continued their sideways trend this week, speculation that this may begin to change is becoming more prevalent. The continued downward pricing trend within the Chinese hot rolled coil (HRC) market, traders say, is the root of this suspicion. Sources close to SteelOrbis point to the softening of hot rolled prices softening in the Far East. If this continues, they say, it may soon begin to push down import OCTG casing offers to the US as well. For now, offers out of Taiwan and Korea for J55 ERW OCTG casing continue to be seen at $47.00-$49.00 cwt. ($1,036-$1,080/mt or $940-$980/nt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports. Vietnamese prices have also been stable over the past week, and are still being offered at around $0.50-$1.00 cwt. ($11-$22/mt or $10-20/nt) below Taiwanese and Korean prices.
Meanwhile, domestic spot prices for J55 ERW OCTG casing have once again held steady, and are still in the range of $63.00-$65.00 cwt. ($1,389-$1,430/mt or $1,260-$1,280/nt) ex-Midwest mill. Buyers are still exercising caution with purchases, as they keep a close eye on US rig counts. According to the last Friday’s report released by Baker Hughes, US gas rig counts have experienced a week-on-week decline of seven, marking an 8 percent decrease over numbers reported last month and a 44 percent decrease over numbers reported during the same time period last year. On the other hand, oil rig counts have rebounded by 13 week-over-week.