Page 14 - ITAtube Journal 1 2026

Market information
Figure 10: Hot-Rolled Coil Steel prices 1 Year until March 2026
Source: tradingeconomics.com
The P110 prices stabilized in 2025 at about
USD 2,000/ton, in fi rst quarter 2026 they
came down to about USD 1800/ton.
S235 structural pipe prices remained com-
parably stable at ~USD 600/ton, supported
by infrastructure projects.
About 73% of global pipe production is
welded (~134 million tons in 2025), making
producers highly dependent on hot-rolled
coil (HRC) prices. US HRC prices rose from
about USD 800/ton in October 2025 to
USD 1.060/ton in March 2026. This means
that welded pipe producers in the US are
increasingly suff ering from deterioration
of margins. This is also refl ected in the
production of tubes <16” OD.
In contrast hereto, Turkey (~USD 541/
ton) and India (~USD 432/ton) trade at
signifi cantly lower HRC price levels (Figure
11). These attractive Indian hot rolled
coil prices are a reason for the signifi cant
boom of tubes <16”
Narrow margins in welded tube produc-
tion remain a structural challenge. Spe-
cialty grades for OCTG are increasingly
expensive and diffi cult to source.
The oil and gas sector accounts for around
51% of the global demand for tubes and
Figure 11: Hot-Rolled Coil Steel prices for selected countries until March 2026
Source: Kallanish.com14 ITAtube Journal April 2026