The downward pressure on
pig iron suppliers' prices had recently been increased by the sharp downtick of $4-5/mt recorded in iron ore prices on Friday, May 30, and also by expectations that scrap prices would soften. This week, however, iron ore prices have started to increase again and no transaction indicating a softening in scrap prices has been reported. Thus,
pig iron suppliers have maintained their firm stance on prices.
Ex-
Ukraine pig iron offers have remained unchanged since last week and are still at $375-385/mt FOB. The latest
pig iron transactions from
Ukraine in
Turkey were concluded at $400/mt CIF. Some Turkish steel producers have found the existing offers to be on the high side and have started negotiations for $395/mt CIF with the Ukrainian
pig iron suppliers. On the other hand, the Ukrainian suppliers state that demand in the Italian market is strong and so they consider their offers to
Turkey to be at appropriate levels.
Market sources believe that there will not be any big decreases in
pig iron prices in June, but demand and consequently prices may soften due to Ramadan which will start at the end of June.