(by Kurt Minnich, www.pipe-logix.com) Line pipe prices jumped 7.6% with domestic prices up 5.8% and import prices up 10.1%. All items tracked in the Pipe Logix Index show significant gains. Prices have increased for 11 of the past 12 months with this month’s gain far surpassing those of previous months. Discussions of section 232 trade protection culminated yesterday with an announcement by President Trump for a new 25% steel tariff. Details and retaliatory positions are still forming. Distributor’s sentiment also jumped in February with the NASPD Index at 81, which indicates a strongly expanding market and compares to 68 in the previous month. Several of the components of the NASPD Index reached one-year highs and all of the distributors are expecting further price increases in the near term. Import volumes trended lower through the 4th quarter 2017, bottoming out at 136,000 tons in December. January volumes are expected to have been nearly 200,000 tons. The rig count was up 3% in February with continued gains in the oil rig count.
Pipe Logix Line Pipe Report – FEBRUARY 2018
Pipe Exchange
14025 West Road
Suite 100
Houston, TX 77041
- Phone: 713.934.9480
- Fax: 713.934.9490
- Email: sales@pipexch.com