The mood in the Brazilian basic pig iron (BPI) market has become bearish over the past week, and, even though there have been no new deals signed at lower prices due to poor demand from the US before the next round of purchases, market sources are waiting for a $10-20/mt drop in prices in the coming round.
Most offers for ex-Brazil BPI with 0.15 percent phosphorus have been at $440-450/mt FOB, while the last deals were at $445-450/mt FOB. “$440/mt FOB is already there [available from suppliers], but sellers are not talkative as they know buyers will push for a further drop,” a source said. Some international traders are waiting for as low as $425-430/mt FOB in new ex-Brazil deals.
In absence of the new deals, the import BPI reference price in the US has remained at $480-495/mt CFR. “The market is quiet and turning more bearish every day. Let’s wait for scrap [in the local US market] to settle,” a trader said. As reported earlier, expectations for the scrap trend for February are from stable to slightly down.
The most recent deal for BPI with 0.10 percent phosphorus in the US was done at $495/mt CFR for Ukrainian material more than 10 days ago.