Although we have already moved into mid-March, Turkish steelmaker Kardemir's pig iron prices remain unchanged from the levels announced on February 23, 2011. Accordingly, Kardemir's C1 grade pig iron price is still at $575/mt + VAT, while its C2 grade pig iron price has remained at $565/mt + VAT.
In the pig iron trade to Turkey, most offers are currently being given via international traders, rather than from producers. SteelOrbis has learned that, following last week's national holiday, Ukrainian pig iron producers have started to announce export offers for April shipments at $515-525/mt FOB. In the meantime, Russian pig iron producers are seeking to persuade buyers at prices slightly above $530-540/mt FOB for April shipments.
On the other hand, as of today, March 14, pig iron export offers from northern Brazil are still standing at $510-520/mt FOB for April shipments, remaining unchanged as compared to last week.
As regards prices for iron ore - a decisive cost factor in pig iron production, in late February iron ore offers given to China had tested the level of $200/mt CFR. However, last week ex-India offers for iron ore of 63 percent Fe content declined to $180/mt CFR. On the other hand, due to the weak domestic demand for coking coal in China, Chinese coking coal suppliers are now focused on the export markets. Early last week, it was anticipated that the Japanese steelmakers would buy coking coal at record high price levels. However, these producers are now expected first to try to come to terms with the earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan.
Due to all these factors, pig iron buyers are now trying to determine whether pig iron prices are likely to maintain their strength. In the meantime, some international trading companies indicate that pig iron demand may remain weak in the second quarter of the current year.