The Russian basic pig iron (BPI) export market has remained weak in terms of sales, and prices from the Black Sea have been at stable levels for nearby outlets like Turkey and have dropped for distant markets like India. Some exporters have been selling more actively in Asia from Russia’s Far East ports, as in such case realizations have been better.
The SteelOrbis reference price for ex-Russia Black Sea BPI has declined by $5/mt on average over the past week to $290-320/mt FOB, with the midpoint at $305/mt FOB. The shipments from the main Russian port in the Black Sea - Novorossiysk - have accelerated this week, being at a very high level for around a month. There has been talk that one large cargo of 45,000-50,000 mt of Russian pig iron has been sold to India. And though the final price has not been confirmed by the time of publication, market sources said it was around $335/mt CFR, translating to $290-mt FOB. In June and July, most bids from India were even at $280-290/mt FOB. But even with some gradual improvement in the local Indian market, the current tradable level for import pig iron in India is still very low for most Russian sellers.
Offers from a number of mills for basic pig iron are still at $320-330/mt FOB. “Some small volumes can go to Turkey at $310-315/mt FOB, but demand is poor,” a market source said.
At the same time, price realizations of Russian sellers in case of shipment from Russia’s Far East ports have been better, at up to $330/mt FOB. For instance, deals to South Korea have been reported at $355/mt CFR, with freight at around $25/mt from the Far Eastern ports of Russia for limited volumes of 10,000 mt or so. Taiwan has been a stable buyer of Russian pig iron, but at sales prices slightly lower compared to South Korea.
