Prices for Brazilian basic pig iron (BPI) with phosphorus content of 0.15 percent have declined in new deals to the US. In particular, one or two big cargoes have been rumored as sold to the US steel mills at $430/mt FOB and $434/mt FOB respectively, translating to $455-464/mt on CFR basis. This is higher than the previous targets of producers voiced at $440-445/mt FOB earlier and in line with the contracts in the previous round of sales for November shipment. “Steel mills have been asking for lower prices, they managed to keep pig iron purchases at their terms,” a trader said.
At the same time, no new deals for BPI with 0.10 percent of phosphorus have been reported so far after a contract at $485/mt CFR reported on October 25. “I believe this pig iron was not only low-phosphorus, but also low manganese and low-sulfur for further sales to foundries. The price is too high for steel mills,” a market source commented. Also, since the availability form Ukraine is limited for this grade, some US buyers had no choice, but to accept higher prices from Brazil.
As a result, the SteelOrbis reference price for imported BPI in the US has widened to $455-485/mt CFR, where the lower end reflects the recent high-phosphorus pig iron deals. Previously, the gap between two grades was just $10/mt, while increased to $20-30/mt at the moment.