Page 13 - ITA Journal 3-2018

(+6 %). Other/ROW (-2 %) and IS territories (- 3 %) reported a fall in production volumes. The US once again had the most signi - cant production increase to report (+13 %) (Fig. 12).
Source: ITAtube Journal/Wirt- schaftsvereinigung Stahlrohre e.V.
The second quarter 2018 gures for welded pipes ≥ 406 mm OD, large diameter line pipe, once more show an overall production decrease of 3 %, led by China (-5 %) and other/ROW (- 4 %). This trend re ects the fall in demand for pipelines in these regions. The line pipe market is dominated by large projects which are mostly polit- ically driven. The CIS (+24 %), Europe (8 %) and the US (+5 %) on the other hand have increased production and were able to strengthen their position as tech- nologically advanced producers of large diameter line pipe (Fig. 13). The current US administration recently began to impose import duties on line pipe imports to protect US producers – a political signal which seems to be having the desired impact on US pipe production.
In the entire scenario, currency exchange rates have also had a signi cant impact on pipe exports and pipe manufacturing machin- ery exports throughout the world.
In 2017 the euro gained about 20% against the US Dollar (US$) (Fig. 14). In the months since April 2018 it has fallen again by about 6 % to 1.17. This does, however, lessen pressure on exports into the US.
At the same time, in 2017 the exchange rate of the euro to the Chinese yuan gained about 9.5 %. Thus far in 2018 the euro has dropped back by about 7.4 %,
Fig. 11: World steel pipe production in Ttons (seamless) Source: ITAtube Journal/Wirtschaftsvereinigung Stahlrohre e.V.
Fig. 12: World steel pipe production in Ttons (welded < 406 mm OD) Source: ITAtube Journal/Wirtschaftsvereinigung Stahlrohre e.V.
Fig. 13: World steel pipe production in Ttons (welded ≥ 406 mm OD) Source: ITAtube Journal/Wirtschaftsvereinigung Stahlrohre e.V.
which offsets some of the gains made by China in 2017.
The value of the euro against the Russian rouble has gained some 28 % since April 2017 and is now at a level of about 77 roubles/ euro. This meant that local pipe producers to a large extent served the home market, to compensate for export losses due to higher exchange rate costs (Fig. 15).
From January 2017 (4.0) to Feb- ruary 2018 (4.7), the exchange rate of the euro to the Saudi Arabian riyal (SAR) gained about 15 %. However, the euro has most recently fallen against the riyal some 10 % (to 4.4 as of October 3, 2018). Overall, since 2017, Euro- pean imports to Saudi Arabia have become about 5 % more expen- sive.
Market information
ITAtube Journal No3/October 2018
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