During the week ending August 7, average Chinese steel pipe export offer prices have moved sideways. At present, export offers for welded pipe given by Chinese suppliers are in the range of $480-490/mt FOB, moving sideways compared to July 31, while export offers for API 5L seamless pipe given by Chinese suppliers are at $490-510/mt FOB, October shipment, remaining stable compared to July 31.
Product name |
Quality |
Spec. |
Price ($/mt) FOB |
Weekly change ($/mt) |
API 5L seamless pipe |
Gr.B |
2’’-6’’ Std |
500 |
- |
Seamless pipe, casing (hot rolled forming) |
J55 |
3’’-8’’ Std |
500 |
- |
Seamless pipe, tubing (cold drawn forming) |
ST37 |
< 3’’ Std |
625 |
- |
Welded pipes |
Gr.B |
2’’-6’’ Std |
485 |
- |
During the given week, steel pipe prices in the Chinese domestic market have remained unchanged amid the prevailing cautious sentiments among market players. Demand for steel pipe has not seen any significant improvement, exerting a negative impact on prices. At the same time, inventory of steel pipes has increased slightly, weakening the support for prices. However, steel pipe producers have reduced production to a certain degree, which may positively affect prices. It is expected that steel pipe prices in the Chinese domestic market will likely fluctuate within a limited range in the coming week.
As of August 7, HRC futures at the Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 3,481/mt ($488/mt), decreasing by RMB 7/mt ($1/mt) or 0.2 percent since July 31, while down 0.66 percent compared to the previous trading day, August 6.
$1 = RMB 7.1386