(by Paul Vivian and Rick Preckel, www.prestonpipe.com) Market Monitor: 16” and Under Diameters – The small diameter line pipe market has been largely served by imports for several years. 2017 is no exception. Year to date import share is about 67%. Small diameter shipments have improved in the second half of the year with the benefit accruing disproportionately to imports. Import shipments have grown by 55% 2Hv1H while domestic shipments have only improved by about 20%. Greater than 16” Outside Diameter – In the latest Simdex update, 35 new projects were announced in the October/November time frame in the U.S. and Canada for a total of 1,978 miles. Of those projects, approximately 887 miles are expected to be made up of pipelines that are greater than 16” in diameter. A look at the table on page 48 showing the split of line pipe shipments by size range, suggest that large diameter market share between import and domestic has been split about evenly this year. The most recent year that this was the case prior to 2017 was in 2014. In fact, out of the last 8 years, since domestic capacity expanded the first time around, domestic large diameter shipments have been close to that million ton mark 5 times. It’s not surprising that the domestic marke is more stable but it does beg the question, why isn’t domestic share higher?
PRESTON PIPE REPORT – THE LINE PIPE MARKET – DECEMBER 2017
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