Differences in steel belt pipe quotations in many places in Hubei, analysis of regional transportation costs

Recently, there are obvious regional differences in the quotations of the steel belt pipe market in Hubei: Wuhan, as the logistics hub of the province, the quotation of the steel belt pipe end point is relatively low; the quotation of regional central cities such as Yichang and Xiangyang is slightly higher; the quotation of remote mountainous areas such as Enshi and Shiyan is nearly 10% higher than that of Wuhan. The core driving factor of this difference is the imbalance of regional transportation costs.

From the perspective of raw material transportation, the core raw materials of steel belt pipes are mostly imported from outside the province. Wuhan has a dense railway, highway and water transportation network, with many logistics lines and sufficient transportation capacity. The single transportation volume of raw materials is large, and the unit cost can be reduced by about 10%. However, the logistics network coverage in mountainous areas such as Enshi is insufficient, requiring multiple transits to complete the distribution of raw materials. Not only is the transportation cycle long, but the single transportation volume is limited, and the unit raw material cost is nearly 15% higher than that in Wuhan.

The difference in the distribution of finished products is more intuitive: for project procurement within 100 kilometers around Wuhan, the short-distance delivery cost only accounts for 3% -5% of the quotation; while for local procurement in Enshi, the finished products need to be transferred from the regional transit warehouse, and the loading and unloading, transit and long-distance transportation costs are superimposed. The distribution cost accounts for 10% -12% of the quotation, which directly pushes up the end point price. In addition, the lack of storage resources in some remote areas and the high cost of stocking will also indirectly affect the stability of the quotation.

For the purchaser, the optimization strategy can be combined with the project location and procurement scale: projects in remote areas can appropriately increase the single purchase volume, dilute the unit transportation cost; or prioritize the supply channel in the nearest area, balance the quotation and transportation costs, and maximize the procurement efficiency.