Russian basic pig iron (BPI) suppliers have remained under pressure as major customers have been insisting on prices not above the previous sales and bookings this week have been mainly at the same low level as earlier, even though at or below costs for some producers.
This week, some sales of ex-Russia BPI have been heard to Turkey at $303-305/mt FOB Black Sea, similar to what was reported a week ago. This price translates to $320-325/mt CFR on average. Turkey has remained one of the only rare stable markets for Russian suppliers. “There is less supply as some mills, offering very low earlier, have already sold out,” a market source said. “I think that now we see less supply, but for how long? In general, supply volumes are not going down, even if at current prices it is around $10/mt below costs for more sellers,” another source said.
A deal for 30,000 mt of Russian BPI was also heard to SE Asia at $345/mt CFR. This price translates to $300/mt FOB Black Sea or so, sources have said. But it is slightly up from $340/mt CFR seen in the deal done to the same trade destination earlier in October.
Most sellers’ targets are still at $310/mt Black Sea.
The SteelOrbis reference price for ex-Russia BPI has declined to $300-310/mt FOB Black Sea, down $7.5/mt on average over the past week.
