The global basic pig iron (BPI) market has witnessed another week of complete silence as major suppliers from Brazil and Russia have still been insisting on the previously announced higher offers, while buyers have also been strongly maintaining their wait-and-see position, resisting them.
In the benchmark US BPI market, Brazilian suppliers have still been asking for $450/mt FOB for BPI with 0.15 percent phosphorus content and $470/mt FOB for lower phosphorus content material at 0.10 percent. The offers have been stable for two weeks already, but US customers are still staying away from June shipment bookings and assess the tradable level for high phosphorus BPI at not above $435/mt FOB. “The Brazilian pig iron market looks calm after the latest sales to the US [at $430-435/mt FOB]. Now the Brazilian producers are asking for $450/mt FOB Rio for the next shipments in June-July,” one of the sellers said, adding that there is still no rush on the suppliers’ side. The reference price for ex-Brazil BPI with 0.15 percent phosphorus has remained stable at $435-440/mt FOB, while the general range for the import prices in the US, including both grades, is at $470-480/mt CFR.
The SteelOrbis reference price for ex-Russia BPI has also been stable, at $390-410/mt FOB Black Sea. The lower end of the range corresponds to bids from some steel mills in Italy at $420-425/mt CFR and $405-410/mt CFR Turkey. “[BPI] cannot move because the situation continues to be very difficult for mills here,” an end-user commented. Stable prices have continued to be seen in the scrap segment and in longs prices in Europe, adding to the situation.
A small deal has been rumored for low-manganese BPI from Russia to Turkey at up to $420/mt FOB, but this has not been confirmed by the time of publication. Usually low-manganese material is at least $10/mt more expensive than high manganese. Some activity for higher pig iron grades has been seen in Europe and Turkey only for very small volumes and for urgent needs of foundries.