The US basic pig iron (BPI) market has finally posted some movements with two ex-Brazil deals confirmed at lower price level after a very long pause.
A contract for 50,000 mt of ex-Brazil BPI has been heard completed at $475/mt FOB this week, which translates to $505-510/mt CFR New Orleans. Another contract from Brazil has been reported at $480/mt FOB, though not confirmed by the time of publication. The previous tradable level of ex-Brazil pig iron was at $515-520/mt FOB, meaning prices have lost at least $40/mt since last week.
The previous booking for imported BPI to the US was a sale of ex-India pig iron rumored at $540/mt CFR, but the deal was not finally confirmed and it was, if true, in the second half of April. New import prices in the US have been expected by market sources as most customers purchased a lot at high prices in late March, and in the worsening market conditions they have been asking for big discounts to offset previous losses.
Despite the latest stop in the downtrend in the scrap market, the sentiment in the BPI market has not improved yet. “Going down the stairs is a gradual process and not a free fall. I think that scrap will sustain not for long, and BPI is definitely down now,” a European trader said.