A major producer of foundry grade pig iron in the Brazilian southeastern state of Minas Gerais told SteelOrbis that it has closed a deal to export 15,000 mt of the product to the Netherlands, at prices ranging from $453/mt to $473/mt, FOB Rio de Janeiro port, a price comparable to a range of $455/mt to $465/mt earlier this month.
The source mentioned that the company is operating at full capacity and its production is already sold until December, adding that all pig iron producers of the foundry grade product in the state are benefiting from stable demand, not only from export markets, but also from the domestic market, where the product is currently sold at BRL1,330/mt to BRL1,350/mt ($555/mt to $563/mt) FOB, against BRL1,300/mt to BRL1,350 earlier this month.
Conversely, the producers of the steelmaking grade product are facing difficult times with the reduced demand from the steelmaking activity, having to sell its production at $380/mt FOB port for export and at BRL900/mt ($376/mt) in the domestic market, FOB plant, ex-taxes but including PIS Cofins.
A report by the state’s pig iron sector association Sindifer indicates that the producers in Minas Gerais are expected to close September with an operation pace of 33 percent in relation to its production capacity of 681,000 mt per month, comparable to a 41 percent pace by the end of February 2014.
According to Sindifer, from the total of 60 pig iron producers in Minas Gerais, 33 have temporarily suspended all production activities.