Over the past week, ex-CIS pig iron prices have remained unchanged at $360-370/mt FOB. While CIS-based suppliers’ pig iron offers to the US are at $380-385/mt CFR, demand for pig iron in the US market is slack since buyers are waiting for domestic scrap prices to be clarified for the December buy-cycle. In the short term, demand for pig iron in the US is not expected to recover, as buyers will likely refrain from stock replenishment due to year-end considerations and the approach of the holiday period.
Meanwhile, ex-CIS pig iron offers to Italy have also remained unchanged week on week at $390-395/mt CFR. Market sources state that steel exports from Ukraines’s Mariupol and Berdyansk ports and shipments from the Azov Sea are continuing without any severe interruption after Ukraine imposed martial law following the Kerch crisis with Russia last weekend. While delays of only a couple of days seem possible in terms of lead times, buyers may still avoid booking steel cargoes from these ports in order to minimize risks in case of a worsening of the crisis between the two countries in question.