April 2012 | Seamless Steel Tube & Pipe
Prices steadier in China despite continued oversupply: Asia Market Analysis
Prices are up home and abroad, although ony scarcely enough to cover higher raw materials costs, while domestic prices remain ahead of export offers.
Seamless tube mills have managed to improve margins over raw materials this month notwithstanding the continued high rate of output. This is not because exports have helped to clear stocks, figures for March have still to be published, but they are expected to remain close to the lower levels seen in February, which fell far short of January’s tonnage. China’s total exports of seamless tubes during February were 21.5% less than in January, amounting to only 320,400 tonnes. Export competition sharpened in the New Year; while profits on domestic sales have been meagre, it has been similarly difficult to make any profits on export sales. Prices are up home and abroad, although ony scarcely enough to cover higher raw materials costs, while domestic prices remain ahead of export offers. Ordinary low carbon A106B pipe is achieving up to Rmb5,060/tonne ($802/tonne), substantially higher than the export price, which has risen no...
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