The global pig iron market has been trending sideways, especially as the CIS countries were still enjoying their holidays in early January. CIS pig iron suppliers have returned to the markets as of this week with their new offers, which have increased slightly due to the higher freight costs.
Ukrainian pig iron offers were standing at $390-395/mt FOB Black Sea in December, while sales from Ukraine to Turkey have been booked at $405-415/mt CFR. On the back of increases of $5-10/mt in freight costs, new pig iron offers have edged up. Accordingly, this week's pig iron offers from Ukrainian suppliers to Turkish buyers have reached $420-430/mt CFR. However, sluggish pig iron demand in Turkey weakens the possibility of new deals at these levels. Market players state that no significant demand increase is expected in the short term, and so they consider that new pig iron transactions from Ukraine will likely be booked at levels of $410-420/mt CFR.
Apart from low pig iron demand, declines of around $5/mt in Chinese iron ore prices in the last 10 days will prevent CIS pig iron mills from pushing their prices up further.
Weekly price movements of different steel products in major markets can be viewed comparatively in the SteelOrbis Historical Steel Prices section. Market trends can thus be seen more clearly, while desired charts can be created and used in reports or presentations.