Global basic pig iron (BPI) suppliers have continued to secure orders from buyers worldwide. Specifically, SteelOrbis has learned of another 60,000 mt ex-Brazil BPI cargo reportedly sold to China at $480/mt FOB, unchanged compared to the prices fixed in the previous deals done to the US in particular. The material is for shipment in November. Taking into account recent developments in the freight segment, the CFR price is hard to estimate accurately. While some market insiders are firmly convinced that the freight is hardly lower than $70/mt and that the FOB price has been overestimated in order to prevent prices from recording a further reduction, other players continue to claim that it is quite possible to find freight at $55-60/mt. In the latter case, the CFR price would be in line with the workable levels in China, which are said to be at $535-540/mt CFR.
Concurrently, negotiations with a Ukraine-based BPI supplier are said to be underway in China, reportedly at $535-545/mt CFR.
“Despite the recent recovery in bookings, I guess there is still some room pointing further downwards. There are a couple of outages scheduled for the second half among US mills. In addition, both prime and obsolete scrap have gone down further. I consider activities in China to be rather temporary, not sufficient to offset the prevailing BPI oversupply,” an international trader commented with regard to the current developments in the global BPI market.