Seamless Steel Pipe Market Update — 19 October 2026: Prices Drift Lower as Exports Hold Near Record High

Seamless Steel Pipe Market Update — 19 October 2026: Prices Drift Lower as Exports Hold Near Record High
Dateline: October 19, 2026
October has brought no relief to China’s seamless steel pipe producers — and no let-up in compliance work for importers in Europe and the United States. Domestic prices are drifting sideways at a low plateau, export volumes remain close to record levels, and the paperwork needed to clear seamless tube into the EU became stricter at the beginning of this month.
Prices: thin buying, discounting mills
Mysteel’s daily assessment put the national average price of 20# seamless pipe at RMB 4,258 per tonne on 14 October, down RMB 1 from the previous day, on sample transaction volumes of 15,609 tonnes — 2.9% lower day on day. Downstream users are buying only against immediate need, and some mills are offering discounts to move stock. The traditional “Golden September” peak failed to appear, and that softness has carried into October.
Exports: August up on the month
Customs data show China exported 537,000 tonnes of seamless pipe in August 2026, up 7.16% month on month but 4.69% below August 2025. January–August volumes reached 3.97 million tonnes, up 0.21% year on year. It follows a record 2025, when shipments of 6.28 million tonnes rose 9.79% and passed the 6 million tonne mark for the first time. September and nine-month figures are due from customs in the coming days.
Europe: melt-and-pour documentation is now mandatory
The EU’s tightened steel safeguard has applied since 1 July 2026 and doubles the out-of-quota duty from 25% to 50%. Since 1 October, importers must also document the country where the steel was melted and poured. For seamless tube that makes traceability a purchase-order issue rather than a shipping one: the declaration has to be secured from the mill before dispatch. In February the European Commission also imposed anti-dumping duties on high-pressure seamless steel cylinders from China.
United States: Section 232 remains at 50%
The April 2026 revision of Section 232 applies a 50% ad valorem duty on the full entered value of covered pipe and tube products, and steel and aluminium articles are excluded from the general 12.5% forced-labour duty introduced in July. July’s USMCA review closed without an extension of the agreement in its current form, leaving North American sourcing routes unsettled.
Demand: three engines
Middle East and Central Asian drilling and pipeline programmes continue to pull API 5L X60/X65 line pipe and OCTG casing and tubing. Asian infrastructure spending supports structural and mechanical tubing. In Europe, thermal and nuclear plant outages are generating orders for ASTM A213 T11/T22 and ASTM A335 P91 boiler and heat-exchanger tubes, increasingly quoted with CBAM-ready emissions data.
What it means for buyers
With lead times of 30–45 days for standard carbon steel grades and 45–60 days for alloy and large diameter seamless pipe, there is little room for late decisions. Buyers who lock in mill certificates, heat numbers, melt-and-pour statements and carbon data at the enquiry stage — not after the vessel sails — are the ones who avoid costly surprises.
About Shandong Ruixiang Steel Group Co., Ltd.
Shandong Ruixiang Steel Group Co., Ltd. is a seamless steel pipe supplier shipping carbon, alloy and stainless grades for oil and gas, power generation and industrial applications. Contact our team for Q4 2026 and 2027 requirements.