Assofermet: Italian pig iron and ferroalloys markets still see rising tendency

The Italian pig iron and ferroalloys markets witnessed a strong uptrend in December. Almost daily price hikes and satisfying transaction volumes seemed to point to lower quotations in the New Year. However, those who expected the markets to open after the holidays with cheaper prices were surprised to see that Italian pig iron prices in the New Year are in fact higher than those recorded at the end of 2010, while some slight increase has also been seen in the ferroalloys market. This is the situation in the Italian pig iron and ferroalloys markets, as described by Assofermet - the Italian association of traders of iron, steel, non-ferrous metals, ferrous scrap, hardware and similar goods.
 
Although Italian mills' pig iron inventories are quite low, January pig iron production started strongly. In fact, the mild restocking activity in late December was due to certain significant orders received before the closure of production for the Christmas holidays.
 
It is hard to establish an actual price for pig iron in the Italian market. Current prices are reported to be $30/mt higher than late December's $515-520/mt CIF. However, local pig iron demand is lackluster and offers are rare. Pig iron producers are inclined to postpone their product sales in anticipation of higher transaction prices for pig iron in the future.
 
Italian pricing trends for pig iron are expected to clearly mirror the pricing trends for scrap in the international markets. According to some Russian producers, as long as scrap prices continue to rise, pig iron prices will also follow an upward trend.
 
In the Italian ferroalloys market, ferrochrome spot prices have increased slightly, while ferromanganese and ferrovanadium have maintained the same quotation levels as at the end of 2010. International demand for ferrosilicon is growing fast, with the ferrosilicon market experiencing a certain degree of rising momentum worldwide. Meanwhile, ferromolybdenum prices (mainly used by stainless steelmakers) are on the rise, with market analysts forecasting a high intake in the future.