During the week ending February 28, average Chinese steel pipe export offer prices have remained stable amid the slightly rising trend of HRC futures prices. At present, export offers for welded pipe given by Chinese suppliers are in the range of $590-610/mt FOB, remaining unchanged compared to February 21, while export offers for API 5L seamless pipe given by Chinese suppliers are at $600-610/mt FOB, for May shipment, remaining stable compared to February 21.
|
Product name |
Quality |
Spec. |
Price ($/mt) FOB |
Weekly change ($/mt) |
|
API 5L seamless pipe |
Gr.B |
2’’-6’’ Std |
605 |
- |
|
Seamless pipe, casing (hot rolled forming) |
J55 |
3’’-8’’ Std |
605 |
- |
|
Seamless pipe, tubing (cold drawn forming) |
ST37 |
< 3’’ Std |
710 |
- |
|
Welded pipes |
Gr.B |
2’’-6’’ Std |
600 |
- |
During the given week, steel pipe prices in the Chinese domestic market have continued to move sideways as demand from downstream users has improved slowly. At the same time, ferrous metal futures prices have fluctuated within a limited range, affecting the steel pipe market. Rainy weather has exerted a negative impact on the demand for steel pipes, while production only indicated slight increases, bolstering prices to a certain degree. Since the weather will be better in the near future, there will be limited room for steel pipe prices to edge down. It is thought that steel pipe prices in the Chinese domestic market will likely rebound in the coming week.
As of February 28, HRC futures at the Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 3,920/mt ($551.5/mt), rising by RMB 4/mt ($0.6/mt) or 0.1 percent since February 14, while edging up by 0.49 percent compared to the previous trading day (February 27).
$1 = RMB 7.1075