During the past week, ex-CIS pig iron offers have increased by $10/mt on the lower end to $345-365/mt FOB.
It is observed that CIS-based pig iron producers’ offer prices to the US have remained at $370-380/mt CFR, while actual pig iron deals from the CIS region to the US have been concluded at $365/mt CFR as US buyers continued to consider offer prices to be on the high side. On the other hand, SteelOrbis has been informed that the production volume of CIS-based pig iron producers has slightly decreased, with some producers closing their sales for April and starting to give offers for the subsequent period.
According to market sources, CIS- based pig iron producers’ offers to Italy are still in the range of $370-380/mt CFR. Meanwhile, Italian buyers’ firm bids are observed to be at $360-365/mt CFR, and deals have been concluded at this price range. Market sources report that Italian liquid steel producers usually reduce their production rates particularly during the Easter period (in mid-April this year) and so pig iron buyers are mostly maintaining a wait-and-see stance to see the market’s trend after the Easter holiday. As a result, no significant change in ex-CIS pig iron demand in Italy is foreseen in the first half of April.
With the local election completed on March 31, buyers in Turkey are also maintaining their wait-and-see stance. Hence, no pig iron booking in Turkey has been heard over the past week. Although ex-CIS pig iron prices may increase slightly in the coming weeks due to lower production rates, market sources note that these rises may fail to gain acceptance in the short term.