In the Italian market, the latest import offers for basic pig iron from Ukraine are at $495/mt CIF, while import offers from Russia are at $515/mt CIF. Ex-Ukraine offers are subject to 1.7 percent import duty.
Italian steel producers' demand for basic pig iron is very low as currently even the best qualities of steel scrap are far cheaper than pig iron. Domestic steel mills are finding it difficult to increase rolled product prices and so they are anxious to lower their production costs as much as possible. Accordingly, it is unlikely they will be attracted by these latest ex-CIS pig iron offer prices.