Over the past week, ex-CIS pig iron offers have moved sideways, remaining stable at $335-365/mt FOB.
In the given period, CIS-based pig iron suppliers maintained their offer prices to the US market unchanged at $370-380/mt CFR. Some US-based buyers have continued to consider the current prices to be on the high side and have exerted downward pressure, while some deals have been concluded at $368-369/mt CFR.
Meanwhile, ex-CIS pig iron offers to Italy are still at $370-380/mt CFR, though buyers consider prices to be on the high side and their firm bids are at $360-365/mt CFR. As steel demand in Italy is currently slack, Italian demand for pig iron is also still weak.
As for the Turkish market, ex-CIS pig iron offers to this country are still at $365-370/mt CFR, though no new deal has been heard after the deal reported last week, which was concluded at $365/mt CFR.
It seems that some CIS-based pig iron producers are planning to reduce the share of pig iron in their production amount and to give priority to raw steel production instead, in order to increase their slab and hot rolled coil (HRC) exports. According to market sources, ex-CIS pig iron prices may be impacted by this reduced output and may increase slightly in the medium term.