During the week ending October 16, average Chinese steel pipe export offer prices have edged down. At present, export offers for welded pipe given by Chinese suppliers are in the range of $520-540/mt FOB, moving down by $15/mt compared to October 9, while export offers for API 5L seamless pipe given by Chinese suppliers are at $540-550/mt FOB, for December shipment, edging down by $10/mt compared to October 9.
Product name |
Quality |
Spec. |
Price ($/mt) FOB |
Weekly change ($/mt) |
API 5L seamless pipe |
Gr.B |
2’’-6’’ Std |
545 |
-10 |
Seamless pipe, casing (hot rolled forming) |
J55 |
3’’-8’’ Std |
545 |
-10 |
Seamless pipe, tubing (cold drawn forming) |
ST37 |
< 3’’ Std |
695 |
- |
Welded pipes |
Gr.B |
2’’-6’’ Std |
530 |
-15 |
During the given period, steel pipe prices in the Chinese domestic market have declined slightly following previous big increases. Market players have started to be cautious as regards the future prospects for the steel pipe market. Demand from downstream users has not improved so far. Buyers mostly preferred to purchase during the upward trend instead during the downward movement, exerting a negative impact on steel pipe prices. It is thought that steel pipe prices in the Chinese domestic market will likely move sideways in the coming week.
As of October 16, HRC futures at the Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 3,587/mt ($504.5/mt), increasing by RMB 16/mt ($2.3/mt) or 0.45 percent since October 9, while down 0.97 percent compared to the previous trading day, October 15.
$1 = RMB 7.1191