at $285-290/mt FOB, with some sales reported. In particular, the US has continued buying: a 50,000 mt cargo has been sold by a Russian steel producer to the US at $315/mt CFR, in line with the previous ex-Ukraine transaction price. However, demand from the US does not match CIS-based suppliers’ aim to increase their prices for December production. Therefore, again a lot will depend on China.
According to the market sources, the buyers from China, who were bidding $310-315/mt CFR for ex-CIS pig iron around 10 days ago, have returned to $320-325/mt CFR levels after the sizeable cargoes were booked to the US. As a result, traders in the market believe that, if the US buyers push for lower levels from the CIS-based mills, the latter might sell again to China in order to support their positions.
Some ex-CIS pig iron deals have been closed to the EU as well. A 10,000 mt cargo has been sold to Italy at $310/mt CFR, up $5-7/mt over the past week. In addition, a 5,000 mt batch has been sold to Poland at $325/mt delivered, SteelOrbis has learned.
According to the market sources, demand for import pig iron in Turkey is slow with the workable levels assessed at $290-295/mt CFR, while indicative offers are at up to $300/mt CFR.