Demand in the main pig iron markets such as Turkey, Italy and the US is now stronger compared to previous weeks and offers in the market have increased slightly.
Ukraine-based pig iron suppliers' latest offers are at $390/mt FOB, while the price range in a tender held by an Ukrainian trader is at $380-385/mt FOB.
Meanwhile, ex-Ukraine pig iron offers to Turkey have increased by $5-10/mt since last week and are currently at $410-415/mt CFR. Even though the producers and traders believe their offers are acceptable due to the strong demand in global pig iron markets, Turkish buyers think pig iron prices should be in the range of $400-405/mt CFR maximum considering that scrap prices are currently at $380/mt CFR.
Ex-US scrap prices had started to increase at the beginning of April, rising to $388/mt CFR, but the uptrend in prices has come to an end in the past seven days. Market sources state that, considering the latest transaction price range, it is safe to say that scrap prices have now entered a downtrend. Iron ore prices in the Chinese market had also increased to $120/mt last week, while prices are currently at $116/mt. Market sources say that, if scrap and iron ore prices continue their downtrends in the coming week, the increase anticipated by the traders in pig iron prices may not be achieved.