Although it seems that the bullish vibes in the global basic pig iron (BPI) market have been accepted globally, some market insiders are pretty sceptical regarding the likely duration of the trend. Under such circumstances, CIS-based BPI suppliers are not likely to lose the opportunity to sell at their recently announced prices.
More deals for ex-CIS basic pig iron (BPI) have been fixed at higher levels, this time for medium-sized lots. Though the uptrend seems solid for now, some market insiders doubt it is going to be sustainable.
Ukraine’s Metinvest has recently sold 10,000 mt of pig iron to Spain at $363/mt CFR for April shipment. The transaction level corresponds to around $330/mt FOB, while similar levels were fixed by the seller to Italy, again for medium-sized lots. Currently, according to sources, Metinvest aims to sell at nothing lower than $330-335/mt FOB.
The SteelOrbis weekly reference price is set at $330-343/mt FOB for ex-CIS BPI to be shipped from the Black Sea region, up from $325-330/mt FOB valid last week. The higher end of the current range was fixed in the most recent 50,000 mt sale to the US, indicating a $16/mt increase from the previous transaction level.