An independent pig iron producer in the north of Brazil told SteelOrbis that his exports of the steelmaking grade product to the US are set to increase in both volume and price.
He believes that the mills in the US will have to increase production to meet the domestic demand, to compensate for the reduction of the country’s imports of steel products.
According to the source, the US domestic prices of steel products went down by $80/mt since December, reducing the competitiveness of the imported product, which ultimately could result higher than domestic prices.
The source mentioned that he is exporting the steelmaking grade product to the US at $270/mt, CFR conditions, reflecting a stable trend in the last month.
In March, Brazil exported pig iron at an average FOB price of $338/mt, pointing to the steelmaking grade exported in a range of $291/mt to $331/mt FOB, while the foundry grade product was exported at $384/mt FOB.