In the Turkish domestic pig iron market, local producer Kardemir has kept its sales prices unchanged in the past week. Accordingly, Kardemir's price of H1 pig iron still stands at $595/mt plus VAT, its H2 price is at $585/mt plus VAT, while its price of C1 pig iron has trended sideways at $560/mt plus VAT, and its price for C2 pig iron is still at $550/mt plus VAT. After Kardemir won a contract for the supply of 30,000 mt of rails to Iraq last week, market players are now looking forward to seeing if the company will update its finished steel and pig iron sales prices.
The anticipation that Turkish mills would return to the market to conclude new pig iron booking after the Ramadan holiday seems to have materialized. During the holiday, an ex-Ukraine pig transaction of 10,000 mt to Turkey was concluded at $515-520/mt CFR. And this transaction price level caused Turkish mills' price idea for pig iron to stay at $500-505/mt FOB. In the meantime, a recent 5,000 mt pig iron purchase tender opened by a Turkish mill in the Marmara region is expected to be finalized this week, while another another tender for the purchase of 10,000-15,000 mt of pig iron from a mill in the Iskenderun region was reported to be finalized last Friday, on September 9, at slightly below $530/mt CFR level.
As for Brazil's pig iron export offers, these offers are reported to stand at $490-500/mt FOB. However, it is also reported that most US buyers are still adopting a wait-and-see stance as regards these offers. On the other hand, SteelOrbis has learned that Taiwan is currently a brighter hub in the Far East, as regards pig iron exports.
Last week, a hot topic in the iron ore market, a key market for the pig iron market in the formation of input costs, was the Indian Supreme Court's ban on iron ore mining in the country's iron ore-rich regions of Bellary, Tumkur and Chitradurga, due to the ecological impact of illegal mining. However, early this week, it is announced that Metal Scrap Trade Corporation Limited (MSTC), a government enterprise , will take up e-auctioning through its portal to clear 25 million mt of iron ore stocks from the Bellary, Chitradurga and Tumkur districts in the next few months, with an average quantity of 1.5 million mt per month, providing some relief for Indian steel producers.
After last week's negative developments on the world finance markets, the mood in the finished steel markets has remained quiet in contrast to expectations. The situation in the international finished steel markets is expected to become clearer this week, and Turkish producers are foreseen to decide their next move regarding new pig iron bookings.