The last week has seen an uptrend in steel price offers primarily driven by the rise in coking coal and scrap prices. The trend has already trickled down to domestic and import prices of finished steel products. Import tags are already edging up on the basis of rising raw materials and domestically mills have announced an increase of $30-35/mt on flats. In the case of pig iron, the increase has not only lifted offer prices but also decreased offer volumes from CIS and Brazilian producers.
Higher offers are being heard as a result of rising raw material costs and expectations for the US scrap market to close higher in the November buy cycle. While some US deals for pig iron have been heard in the marketplace at $260/mt FOB Brazil port for the basic steelmaking grade, demand remains limited as sentiment is mixed. Some buyers question the sustainability of the current raw materials uptrend while others believe that scrap has hit bottom and will remain up but are waiting for further confirmation given the end of year planning implications.
Basic pig iron offers to the US from CIS increased $10/mt week-on-week and are being heard at $260-270/mt FOB Black Sea. From Brazil, basic pig iron offers have remained stable since moving up $20/mt late last week at $265-275/mt FOB Brazil port Northern region and $260-270/mt FOB Brazil port Southern Region. These offers translate to $270-290/mt CFR New Orleans.