Chinese seamless pipe market unpromising

BEIJING (Asian Metal) 22 May 13 - Prices of seamless pipe go down slightly in Shanghai for the moment, while they keep temporarily stable in Tianjin and Guangdong, the other two leading domestic markets in China. In the meantime, the market performs slowly and most traders show no confidence in the coming market.Asian Metal Copyright “The price of the raw material-steel billet Q235 150mm*150mm rebounded slightly by RMB10t in Tangshan, Hebei Province on Monday and Tuesday, which may restrain that of seamless pipe from going down,” he points out.Asian Metal Copyright Insiders deem the price is likely to decrease slightly in following two days.

A trader in Shanghai quotes RMB4,150/t and RMB4,400/t (VAT included) respectively for 20# Φ108mm*4.5mm GB/T8163 and 20# Φ219mm*6mm GB/T8163 from steel mills in Shandong Province, both down by RMB50/t compared with those of the previous trading day.

The source attributes the price decline to the poor market performance. His sales volume maintained at a low level of 30tpd recently, while the target level in the peak season is over 100tpd.Asian Metal Copyright Insiders deem the price is likely to decrease slightly in following two days.Asian Metal Copyright According to him, the business is hard to run due to downstream customers’ cautious attitude.

A trader in Tianjin tells Asian Metal that his quotation keeps stable for the time being, with that of 20# Φ108mm*4.5mm GB/T8163 at RMB4,280/t (VAT included).

According to the source, although most traders are not confident of the coming market, none of them would like to lower quotations firstly to disturb the steady market. In addition, orders from downstream customers are few and even a price decline can not attract end users to purchase materials actively. “The price of the raw material-steel billet Q235 150mm*150mm rebounded slightly by RMB10/t in Tangshan, Hebei Province on Monday and Tuesday, which may restrain that of seamless pipe from going down,” he points out.

A trader in Foshan, Guangdong Province reports to Asian Metal that his quotation for the same above grade from steel mills in Shandong Province keeps stable at RMB4,650/t (VAT included).

With a low sales volume of 30tpd against 80tpd in the peak season, the source confirms that the market runs inactively. Nevertheless, he does not plan to lower quotations in the near future, not believing even a price decrease can boost the market effectively.