Prices of ex-Russia basic pig iron (BPI) have been corrected down slightly this week, but the gap between offers and bids is still too high at up to $20/mt, resulting in almost silent trading activity.
The SteelOrbis reference price for ex-Russia BPI has been at $350-370/mt FOB Black Sea this week, down by $5/mt on average over the past week, where the lower end of the range represents buyers’ price ideas for large volumes and the higher end indicates the lowest offers from major mills.
Offers from at least two large mills have been heard at $370/mt FOB Black Sea, slightly below $370-380/mt FOB last week. But no new bookings have been confirmed. “Maybe $365/mt FOB can be reached in negotiations, but it is still unworkable for the main buyers [in Turkey],” a source said. Turkey is still the main targeted market with latest offers at $390/mt CFR or above, but the tradable level from the buyers’ point of view is $7-20/mt lower. “$383/mt CFR is the highest realistic number when we calculate according to scrap prices,” a Turkish source said. Another Turkish market participant said that $370/mt CFR is the targeted level for large volumes voiced by some mills.
“Major sellers still have time for free storage of the volumes [at ports], so they are not ready to sell cheap for now,” a trading source said.
