Although Brazilian suppliers look forward to receiving higher prices in coming deals amid positive sentiments in Turkey's scrap segment, ex-Brazil BPI (basic pig iron) prices have so far continued to decline. Accordingly, today, August 9, SteelOrbis has learned of a fresh sale of 30,000 mt of ex-Brazil BPI done to Mexico. While market sources reported that the deal was done at $480/mt CFR, a Brazilian seller claimed that a cargo was apparently sold at $490/mt CFR, with the freight rate estimated at 35$/mt. Against this backdrop, ex-Brazil BPI prices have declined to $445-455/mt FOB southern ports, compared to $460-470/mt FOB last week.
“I am still skeptical towards the sustainability of the uptrend in the steel industry. The economic mood and outlook remain quite pessimistic, due to fading downstream demand, the new Covid outbreak, and the over-indebted property sector, and the macroeconomic fundamentals in China, the biggest consumer, seem unchanged,” an international trader stated with regard to future developments in the global pig iron segment.