European welded tube prices are soaring by €15-20/tonne ($17-22.7/t) on average compared to June. The increases that most producers implemented last week are now holding, tube makers and distributors tell Kallanish.

Today tube discounts in Italy, France and Germany are at a level of 36-37 points, an improvement from the discount peaks of 39 point seen in June. “Starting last week we decreased discounts by 2-3 points and we noticed that all mid-sized and small re-rollers followed our strategy as the level of 39 points wasn’t sustainable for anyone,” a large re-roller says.  Each point of discount is the equivalent to €7-8/t, Kallanish notes.

European tube stocks that were reported as being extremely high in the first quarter are now considerably lower as distributors and service centres bought very little product throughout Q1 2017. This has triggered an increase in orders over the past 10 days. “While Italy and France had a slower response to the increases, the German market, where distributors’ stocks are quite low, had an immediate positive reaction. We registered a clear surge in orders from German buyers last week,” the source comments.

The producers’ objective is to continue to reduce the discount level to 35 points before the beginning of the August holiday, Kallanish hears.