Following a relatively long pause in trading in the global basic pig iron (BPI) market, largely caused by the absence of Chinese customers due to the long holiday in China, by the end of the current week a few bookings precisely to China have been disclosed to the market.
Accordingly, SteelOrbis has learned of a fresh sale of 50,000 mt of BPI to China done by Russian steelmaker NLMK at $388/mt CFR. Additionally, another Russian mill, Tula, booked the same volume at $387/mt CFR, also to China. While one of the lots is supposed to be shipped in December, the other one is for January shipment. The abovementioned deals were a surprise to most market insiders. “Considering that NLMK refused to sell at $390/mt CFR at the beginning of this week, betting on higher bids and Chinese buying activity resuming, this business sounds strange,” an international trader commented. There is information in the market about one more booking of ex-Russia BPI (10,000-20,000 mt) sold from Far Eastern ports at $391-392/mt CFR. As SteelOrbis reported earlier, the most recent time Chinese customers booked a cargo of ex-CIS BPI was at $389/mt CFR before the holidays.
Meanwhile, ex-CIS BPI offers to Turkey have been voiced at $375/mt CFR, with customers being not in a hurry to book material, preferring to closely watch developments in the scrap segment.
Buying activity in Italy remains subdued with random deals for small quantities, done mainly to distributors at $375-378/mt CFR Marghera, LC.
Taking into account the abovementioned deals and current offers, SteelOrbis’ assessment for ex-CIS BPI prices this week is $355-360/mt FOB Black Sea, down about $2-10/mt since the end of September.
In the meantime, Brazil-based suppliers are not in a hurry to adjust their offers downwards, citing limited allocation. According to sources, ex-Brazil BPI offers have hovered at $360/mt FOB since the beginning of October.