Cyprus registered seamless stainless steel tube and pipe producer Centravis Holding has analyzed development trends in the seamless stainless steel tubes and pipes world market in the January to February period of 2010.
According to Centravis' analysts, the commodity market value of raw materials saw both decreases and increases in January to February 2010 period. The main reason for raw material price reduction was the expectation of a decrease in nickel demand among Asian steel companies, while the rise in nickel prices was caused by speculative sentiment, driven by announced improvements in key indicators of global economies, thereby increasing the appeal of the stock markets for investment funds.
Meanwhile, the increase in prices was associated with growth in nickel demand in the first half of 2010. The main influence on metal price quotations in the coming months will be growth in nickel demand from stainless steel companies. Thus, growing demand for stainless steel in the Chinese market is forcing stainless steel production to increase capacity utilization. The capacity utilization of the producers from Taiwan, South Korea and Japan, all oriented towards the Chinese market, in February reached 80% to 85% and will keep growing in the second quarter of 2010.
Prices for stainless steel seamless tubes and pipes in December and January had tendencies towards decrease. The fall in nickel prices as well as the business slowdown during the holidays influenced the fall in prices for seamless stainless steel tubes in all regions. In Europe, prices on average fell by 4%, in America by 2%, while in Asia they remained relatively stable.
According to Centravis' experts, the consumption of seamless tubes and pipes in Russia increased by 15% to 20% in December. The demand for seamless stainless steel tubes and pipes in January was low consumers refrained from purchasing products which had become more expensive after the introduction of import duties, which also influenced the overall slowdown in business.
In January to February 2010 period, Ukrainian producers of seamless stainless steel tubes and pipes (Centravis Production Ukraine and Interpipe's Niko Tube) produced a total of 1.645 million tonnes of products.
Mr Alekseenko said that "Today we observe stable growth in production volumes of Centravis Production Ukraine, and a substantial widening of product portfolio due to the commissioning of new equipment. Moreover, we see positive dynamics of orders for tubular products for project business and atomic power engineering in particular."
(Sourced from www.steelorbis.com)
