Favorable Factors: 1. Mill inventories are staying relatively low, giving pipe manufacturers the leverage to push up ex-factory prices even when downstream demand is soft. 2. Raw material costs for hot-rolled strip steel and steel billets have shown resilience, creating a solid cost floor that supports the upward movement of finished pipe prices. 3. Upstream […]
Favorable Factors: 1. Raw material costs for hot rolled strip steel have shown minor fluctuations, providing a stable baseline for pipe manufacturing expenses. 2. Steel futures have experienced slight recoveries, which helps stabilize market sentiment and prevents aggressive price drops. 3. Pipe mills are maintaining steady production without concentrated shutdowns, ensuring a reliable supply chain
Favorable Factors: 1. Steel billet prices showed signs of stabilization recently, providing a temporary floor for raw material costs. 2. Some local pipe mills maintained steady output prices despite broader market declines, indicating a reluctance to aggressively cut margins. Adverse Factors: 1. The traditional off-season continues to weigh heavily on downstream demand, with end-users only
Favorable Factors: 1. EU’s new steel safeguard (50% out-of-quota duty) diverts EU-bound cargoes, tightening supply for non-EU buyers 2. China’s shipbuilding boom sustains domestic steel demand, lending some floor to raw material prices 3. Middle East shipping disruptions push up freight costs — buyers less sensitive to FOB adjustments Adverse Factors: 1. Strip steel prices
Favorable Factors: 1. Strip steel prices rebounded midweek then stabilized — cost support holding firm 2. China keeps a sharp price edge over Japan and Turkey in global export market — buyer interest sustained 3. Global manufacturing PMI still in expansion zone — downstream steel demand has a floor Adverse Factors: 1. EU new steel
Favorable Factors: 1. Strip steel prices held steady — cost support remains stable 2. Mills deepening maintenance cuts to defend margins — supply discipline helps hold the price floor Adverse Factors: 1. Summer demand remains sluggish — high temps and rain keep end-user buying thin 2. Inventory keeps building at mills and traders — supply
Favorable Factors: 1. Mills cutting output to defend margins — supply discipline supports price floor 2. Raw material prices show signs of stabilization — cost floor prevents further FOB erosion Adverse Factors: 1. Yuan remains soft against USD — weak CNY keeps dragging FOB pricing lower 2. Strip steel prices near recent lows — limited
Favorable Factors: 1. Yuan weakening against USD — widens export pricing room for FOB offers 2. Mills maintaining disciplined output, supply-side not adding pressure Adverse Factors: 1. Raw material prices stay low — cost support weakens, FOB lacks upward momentum 2. Offseason demand — downstream procurement willingness remains general 3. EU quota tariff hikes to
Favorable Factors: 1. US-Iran deal done, Hormuz Strait to reopen — Gulf shipping costs set to drop 2. Strip steel cost pressure easing — raw material prices trending down 3. Middle East reconstruction demand picking up for oil/gas facilities Adverse Factors: 1. CBAM officially in force since Jan 2026 — carbon costs added to EU-bound
Favorable Factors: 1. RMB weakened to 6.70 (buying rate basis) — FOB more competitive for overseas buyers 2. Coke prices still climbing (7th round up) — cost floor holding, strip unlikely to drop Adverse Factors: 1. Summer demand soft — export orders slowing, buyers holding off 2. CBAM expansion to 180+ categories from Jan 2027