A booking done at the end of last week from Brazil to a US distributor has ended the silence which had continued in the US basic pig iron (BPI) market since the beginning of September. Having sold at $485/mt FOB, the Brazil-based supplier has consolidated the levels obtained in the transactions done to China a week ago. This is a good sign taking into account the uncertainty as regards future developments which had lately been prevailing in the global steel and raw material markets. With freight assessed at around $50/mt, the CFR price is estimated at $535/mt CRR, around $5-10/mt higher than was fixed in transactions a month ago.
With Brazil-based suppliers being sold out until the end of 2021, in the next negotiations they are likely to step up their efforts to raise prices, SteelOrbis believes.