Russian basic pig iron (BPI) prices have increased over the past week, supported mainly by Turkey, where scrap prices have gained momentum this week. However, there has been no support from other sales destinations as the quota for Russia in the EU has finished and bids in other destinations have been far below sellers’ targets. In general, there has been some reduction in offer volumes from Russia.
The SteelOrbis reference price for ex-Russia BPI has settled in a wide range of $320-350/mt FOB with the mid-point at $335/mt FOB Black Sea, up by $2.5/mt on average from last week.
The Turkish market has remained the main target for most Russian sellers. A deal for slightly less than 40,000 mt of basic high-manganese pig iron has been reported at $370-380/mt CFR, translating to $350-360/mt FOB. Some market sources said that the final price should be closer to the lower end of the abovementioned range. Nevertheless, “The price of $370-380/mt CFR for basic pig iron seems be acceptable to mills. This is a normal price, seeing scrap prices,” a trader said. This deal was from a non-sanctioned producer, SteelOrbis has learned. However, according to other sources, late last week, some tonnages also changed hands at $340-350/mt CFR. Last week, a sanctioned Russian mill was in negotiations to Turkey at $340/mt CFR, equivalent to $320/mt FOB Black Sea. Though a deal has not been confirmed up to now, the producer seems to be out from the market at the moment and will provide some export allocation only in two weeks’ time.
“I do not see very low prices from Ural Steel and Evraz. But I know that Ural Steel is cutting pig iron production,” a source said.
Apart from the high-manganese BPI sale, a sale of low-manganese BPI has been heard at $370/mt FOB, but the quality of the material is excluded from the SteelOrbis reference price. There has also been talk in the market that another Russian mill has managed to sell high quality pig iron at $400/mt FOB to Turkey. But this information has been strongly denied by most market sources polled by SteelOrbis. “I do not believe in it. $400/mt CFR is the highest possible for low-manganese material with sulfur content below 0.02 percent,” a source commented. Market sources are waiting for the further trend in the scrap market, which will drive pig iron prices.
As for Europe, there have been reports that the latest deal for Russian BPI sold under the 2025 quota, which finished in early March, was at $350/mt CFR, mainly in line with the market indications last week. This translates to near $320/mt FOB Black Sea. This information has remained unconfirmed by the time of publication, as sellers are stating in the market that the workable level is not below $340/mt FOB, but traders believe that this level is only possible to European steel mills.