Prices for ex-Black Sea basic pig iron (BPI) have remained under strong pressure from lower bids in all major sales destinations and continued declines in scrap prices. While demand in Italy and Turkey is still limited, the Asian market has become the focus of suppliers.
The SteelOrbis reference price for ex-Black Sea BPI has settled at $320-350/mt FOB, while the lower end of the range has slipped by $10/mt over the past week.
In Turkey, there has been a rumor about 30,000 mt of ex-Russia BPI from a sanctioned mill sold at $330/mt CFR this week, and, though the information has been widely discussed in the market, it has not been confirmed by the time of publication and some sources close to the seller believe that this was a bid price from one of the major importers in Turkey and the seller decided not to sell and turned to Asia instead. “China is in better conditions for now due to positive market dynamics over there but unfortunately for Turkey we do not have it for now,” a Turkish source said. In any case, the tradable level for ex-Black Sea BPI in Turkey has fallen this week and it is assessed at $340/mt CFR, translating to $320/mt FOB or so. Offers have been reported at $350-360/mt CFR for ex-Russia and ex-Donbass BPI to Turkey, being too high for customers.
In Italy, another major market for ex-Black Sea suppliers, trading has been very slow ahead of the summer holidays and negative sentiments. Offers have been from Russia at $380-385/mt CFR or $350/mt FOB, while the tradable level is still hardly above $370/mt CFR. Market sources report increased port stocks and delays in unloading new vessels, which is adding the pressure on suppliers.
At the same time, in Asia, Chinese buyers have been increasing bids, given the recent stoppages of BFs in Tangshan and rising steel prices. By the end of the week, the highest possible bids from China have reached $380-385/mt CFR, which translates to $320/mt FOB Black Sea. “There is not much cheap material available in the market, but this week China has started to enter the market with enquiries at $315-320/mt FOB,” a market source said. As SteelOrbis reported earlier, the last sales of ex-Far East Russia BPI have been at $380-390/mt CFR Taiwan.
In addition, there are some expectations that India may resume imports of BPI soon. Since local trading has improved lately, Indian producers are not ready to export below $440/mt FOB, so import prices from the Black Sea at around $380-390/mt CFR could be workable, a source said.