Prices for ex-Russia basic pig iron (BPI) have been rather stable since early June, but persisting lower bids from major sales destinations have been putting pressure on the market mood, though trading has been poor.
Although major mills have still been looking for prices not below $340/mt FOB Black Sea, since there is only one large market for Russian sellers at the moment - Turkey - the tradable level has been slipping in June. In particular, this week, bids for some sizable volumes have been coming at only $305/mt FOB, translating to $325/mt CFR. For some small volumes, $310-315/mt FOB could be possible, but buyers are not eager to pay even $320/mt FOB now, while the last sales done two weeks back were at $325/mt FOB or so. “Scrap is weak, but more important there is no demand [for pig iron in Turkey],” a market source said.
In other sales destinations, like India, the tradable level is even lower, at $325-330/mt CFR, translating to $285-290/mt FOB Black Sea.
The SteelOrbis reference price for ex-Russia BPI has settled at $305-320/mt FOB Black Sea or $312.5/mt FOB, down by $2.5/mt on average from last week and $5/mt over the past fortnight.