Chinese seamless pipe market recovers
2023-03-10 08:31:09 [Print]
BEIJING (Asian Metal) 10 Mar 23 - With the demand from downstream industries increasing, the domestic seamless pipe market improves gradually, and traders moved up prices accordingly. Presently, the mainstream prices of seamless pipe 20# Ф219*6mm GB8163 hover at RMB5,400/t (USD777/t), RMB5,450/t (USD784/t) and RMB5,400/t (USD777/t) D/P respectively in warehouses Guangzhou, Chengdu and Tianjin, up by RMB50/t (USD7/t) from late last week. Given the improving market performance, insiders foresee rising prices of seamless pipe in the coming several days.
"With more and more downstream plants resuming operation, the demand for seamless pipe recovers gradually. Meanwhile, end users watching the market in February began placing orders this week. On Thursday, we sold 40t of seamless pipe 20# Ф219*6mm GB8163 easily at RMB5,400/t (USD777/t), while just sold 10-20t a day early this month," disclosed a trader in Guangzhou, quoting RMB5,500/t (USD791/t) for seamless pipe 20# Ф219*6mm GB8163. According to him, as steel mills in Shandong kept raising seamless pipe EXW prices, with the markup of around RMB150/t (USD22/t) in recent two weeks, local selling prices even remain lower than the EXW ones. He tried to lift prices, but faced serious competition from peers who ordered materials at lower prices before the Spring Festival. Therefore, he has to accept the lower prices for firm orders. Considering that the demand keeps increasing, the trader believes prices of seamless pipe would go up in the coming several days.
Holding around 700t of stocks, the trader might sell 900t in March, up from 500t in February. With the regular monthly sales volume of 1,000t, the trader sold 800t in January and February of 2023, against 7,900t more or less in 2022.
A trader in Chengdu confirms the warming market with the purchasing activities from downstream customers increasing gradually. "End users sent inquiries actively since early this month. A regular buyer bought 100t of 20# Ф219*6mm GB8163 at RMB5,450/t (USD784/t) on Thursday, while just bought 50t or so at one single time in February," stated the trader. Meanwhile, he pointed out that they could easily sell 100t a day this month. Boosted by the better sales performance, he lifted prices actively. "Restricted by the huge losses in last June and July, we remain cautious about supplementing inventories this year and did not replenish after the Spring Festival. We believe prices of seamless pipe might go up further in April seeing the stronger demand," deemed the trader.
With around 2,000t in stock, the trader might sell 3,000t in March, up from 1,500t in February. Reporting the typical monthly sales volume of 3,000t, he recorded the total sales volume of approximately 2,500t in the first two months of 2023 and 35,000t or so in 2022.
"The demand from downstream industries recovers gradually, but not strong enough. Boosted by the continuous price increases of steel mills, end users became more active in placing orders. On Thursday, we sold around 50t of the material at RMB5,400/t (USD777/t) when offering RMB5,450/t (USD784/t) for 20# Ф219*6mm GB8163, while it took tough negotiations to close deals in late February," noted a trader in Tianjin. According to him, TPCO, the leading seamless pipe producer in Tianjin, announced the decision to hike seamless pipe EXW prices by RMB100/t (USD14) to RMB5,550/t (USD799/t) early this month, and he followed suit, but found it hard to close deals at higher prices. Considering that it takes time for downstream customers to accept the price increase, he predicts flat prices of seamless pipe in the upcoming several days.
Based on the regular monthly sales volume of 1,000t, the trader estimates that the sales volume would reach 900t in March, up from 700t in February. He recorded the total sales volume of around 8,000t in 2022 and 1,100t or so in the first two months of 2023.
"With more and more downstream plants resuming operation, the demand for seamless pipe recovers gradually. Meanwhile, end users watching the market in February began placing orders this week. On Thursday, we sold 40t of seamless pipe 20# Ф219*6mm GB8163 easily at RMB5,400/t (USD777/t), while just sold 10-20t a day early this month," disclosed a trader in Guangzhou, quoting RMB5,500/t (USD791/t) for seamless pipe 20# Ф219*6mm GB8163. According to him, as steel mills in Shandong kept raising seamless pipe EXW prices, with the markup of around RMB150/t (USD22/t) in recent two weeks, local selling prices even remain lower than the EXW ones. He tried to lift prices, but faced serious competition from peers who ordered materials at lower prices before the Spring Festival. Therefore, he has to accept the lower prices for firm orders. Considering that the demand keeps increasing, the trader believes prices of seamless pipe would go up in the coming several days.
Holding around 700t of stocks, the trader might sell 900t in March, up from 500t in February. With the regular monthly sales volume of 1,000t, the trader sold 800t in January and February of 2023, against 7,900t more or less in 2022.
A trader in Chengdu confirms the warming market with the purchasing activities from downstream customers increasing gradually. "End users sent inquiries actively since early this month. A regular buyer bought 100t of 20# Ф219*6mm GB8163 at RMB5,450/t (USD784/t) on Thursday, while just bought 50t or so at one single time in February," stated the trader. Meanwhile, he pointed out that they could easily sell 100t a day this month. Boosted by the better sales performance, he lifted prices actively. "Restricted by the huge losses in last June and July, we remain cautious about supplementing inventories this year and did not replenish after the Spring Festival. We believe prices of seamless pipe might go up further in April seeing the stronger demand," deemed the trader.
With around 2,000t in stock, the trader might sell 3,000t in March, up from 1,500t in February. Reporting the typical monthly sales volume of 3,000t, he recorded the total sales volume of approximately 2,500t in the first two months of 2023 and 35,000t or so in 2022.
"The demand from downstream industries recovers gradually, but not strong enough. Boosted by the continuous price increases of steel mills, end users became more active in placing orders. On Thursday, we sold around 50t of the material at RMB5,400/t (USD777/t) when offering RMB5,450/t (USD784/t) for 20# Ф219*6mm GB8163, while it took tough negotiations to close deals in late February," noted a trader in Tianjin. According to him, TPCO, the leading seamless pipe producer in Tianjin, announced the decision to hike seamless pipe EXW prices by RMB100/t (USD14) to RMB5,550/t (USD799/t) early this month, and he followed suit, but found it hard to close deals at higher prices. Considering that it takes time for downstream customers to accept the price increase, he predicts flat prices of seamless pipe in the upcoming several days.
Based on the regular monthly sales volume of 1,000t, the trader estimates that the sales volume would reach 900t in March, up from 700t in February. He recorded the total sales volume of around 8,000t in 2022 and 1,100t or so in the first two months of 2023.
