Over the past week, the recovery of demand for ex-CIS pig iron seen in previous weeks has stopped and demand has weakened again. Meanwhile, ex-CIS pig iron offers to the export markets have decreased by $5/mt on the lower end and increased by $5/mt on the upper end week on week to $380-400/mt FOB and the price range has widened accordingly. The weakening of demand in the export markets was mostly due to the US government’s decision to remove the temporary exemption from 25 percent tariffs on steel imports from Mexico, Canada and the EU and to impose tariffs. This decision caused market players to adopt a wait-and-see stance in order to monitor the impact of the import duty on the global market. Particularly, the expectation that domestic scrap prices in the US will rise for the June buy-cycle with the support from the US tariffs on imported steel signals that ex-CIS pig iron quotations to the US may increase in the coming period. For now, ex-CIS pig iron offers to the US are at $410-415/mt CFR, remaining unchanged week on week.
On the other hand, demand for ex-CIS pig iron in Italy has decreased further over the past week, especially since traders and distributors based in the Porto Marghera region have offered lower prices for their pig iron tonnages in stock. Currently, ex-CIS pig iron offers to Italy are at $390-415/mt CFR, while traders in Porto Marghera have been heard to conclude deals at $380-390/mt CFR.
Meanwhile, no recovery has been observed in demand for ex-CIS pig iron from Turkish mills and no new price offer has been heard from ex-CIS pig iron suppliers to Turkey.