On June 5, SteelOrbis reported basic pig iron offer prices declining to $325-340/mt FOB Southern Brazil port and $345-360/mt FOB Northern Brazil port. These prices translated to approximately $355-370/mt CFR US port.
Negotiations were halted for pig iron imports for the week ended June 9 as US domestic scrap traded for June. Initial expectations on scrap pricing during the June buy-cycle were soft-sideways. By the end of the week, shredded had declined $10/mt and prime remained relatively stable throughout all regions. HMS I and P&S decreased slightly in some transactions but overall these grades either traded sideways or on limited decline as compared to May settled prices based on tight supply and generally strong demand.
According to sources, the slight decline in scrap prices in the US domestic scrap market is not expected to further dampen pig iron prices from Brazil, as prime grades remained steady and US capacity utilization is expected to continue strong. Additionally, pig iron production is sold out for the remainder of the second quarter and shipments are being negotiated for the third quarter.
Brazil exported a total of 178,025 mt, of pig iron in May, slightly less than the 179,606 mt in the same month last year; 100,477 mt (56 percent) was exported from the Southern region and the remaining 77,548 mt (44 percent) from the Northern region. Pig iron exports destined to the US totaled 81,189 mt in May, or 46 percent of the export total.