The market for Brazilian basic pig iron (BPI) exports has remained relatively stable over the past week, with the third deal confirmed as having been done to the US over the past two weeks, posting just a small increase compared to the previous deals. Generally, market sources are still cautiously pessimistic for the near future as demand from the US is expected to remain moderate in August.
A contract for 35,000 mt of ex-Brazil BPI with maximum phosphorus content of 0.15 percent has been disclosed at $406/mt FOB for August shipment as having been done this week. As SteelOrbis reported earlier this week, another deal for a larger volume of 50,000-55,000 mt of ex-Brazil BPI for September loading was done late last week or early this week at $400/mt FOB. A few market sources agree that these two deals were done in a similar period and that the higher level of the price is explained mainly by the earlier shipment date. “I am assessing this deal as moving sideways,” a Brazilian source said. Over the past two weeks, Brazil has sold around 120,000 mt of BPI in total to the US.
This deal from Brazil translates to around $435-436/mt CFR New Orleans as freight for less than 50,000 mt is a bit higher. “I am assuming it [last deal] was done on an as-needed base to cover short-term demand. The general trend has not changed though and sentiment is deteriorating,” a European source said.
Apart from the Brazilian deal, there is still talk about an ex-Ukraine cargo offered over the past two weeks with some market sources believing it has finally been traded at $440-445/mt CFR, though this could not be confirmed by the time of publication. The material has already been delivered to the US. The SteelOrbis reference price for imported BPI in the US is stable from last week at $430-445/mt CFR.