In the US domestic market, while mills such as US Steel, TMK IPSCO and Tenaris have sent letters to customers over the past couple weeks announcing increases ranging from $3.75-$7.50 cwt. ($83-$165/mt or $75-$150/nt) on seamless carbon and alloy OCTG tubing and casing, and welded alloy casing (with the exception of Tenaris, which raised prices $5.00 cwt. on heat-treated ERW OCTG as well), mills are not pursuing the exact same increases on carbon welded OCTG casing. Sources tell SteelOrbis that because there are fewer players in the domestic market for seamless and alloy products--making material more difficult to come by--competition is fierce. Meanwhile, capacity and availability is high for welded OCTG casing, making an increase much more difficult to achieve--especially in the existing market uncertainty. Domestic mills are also competing with falling import prices, and so the most commonly reported J55 ERW OCTG casing transaction prices have dropped about $1.00 cwt. ($22/mt or $20/nt) since last week to $65.00-$66.00 cwt. ($1,433-$1,455/mt or $1,300-$1,320/nt) ex-mill. As with last week, however, deals below $65.00 cwt. are not unheard of.
Import J55 ETW OCTG casing prices in the US from Korea have fallen about $0.50 cwt. ($11/mt or $10/nt) since last week to $52.50-$53.50 cwt. ($1,157-$1,179/mt or $1,050-$1,070/nt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports. Raw material prices are still the main culprit for the decline, but competition is also having a negative effect on prices. One trader explained that while official Vietnamese offer prices to the US are unchanged from last week, still about $52.00-$53.00 cwt. ($1,146-$1,168/mt or $1,040-$1,060/nt) DDP loaded truck in US Gulf ports, Vietnamese mills are taking orders below the range in some cases in their continuous bid to increase market share in the US. As for Turkey, little has been heard on account of a Turkish holiday this week. But considering a softening Turkish domestic market, not just for pipe but across most product lines, Turkish producers may return from the holiday with a decrease in prices.