Still maintaining a bullish pricing strategy, global basic pig iron (BPI) suppliers have continued to increase their offer prices. Moreover, some of them have managed to get higher prices in rare deals for small lots to Europe and Turkey.
Accordingly, in the middle of the past week a Russia-based BPI producer sold 5,000 mt of BPI to Turkey at $630/mt FOB Black Sea, 3,000 mt of BPI to Europe at $650/mt FOB and 3,000 mt of BPI to South Korea at $670/mt FOB. Although the latter price is officially said to be re-calculated as per FOB Black Sea basis, market insiders still assume that the price in question corresponds to the price based on FOB Far Eastern ports. “As the cargo is destined to be shipped to Southeast Asia, not the key destination, the price is always at a higher level than the market,” another CIS-based BPI supplier stated.
Meanwhile, by the end of the week a Ukraine-based producer sold two small lots to its traditional customers in Europe at $680-685/mt CFR Marghera, with freight being assessed at around $25-30/mt. “The markets remain extremely bullish, with CIS-based suppliers confidently rejecting bids from US customers at $670-675/mt CFR Port of New Orleans,” an international trader said.
On balance, taking into consideration the abovementioned developments, SteelOrbis’ assessment for ex-CIS BPI prices has increased to $635-650/mt FOB Black Sea, up $30-35/mt from offers voiced in early May.
In the meantime, Brazil-based suppliers are following the same pattern, aiming to get higher prices in new deals. Accordingly, the most recent offers for ex-Brazil BPI have been voiced at $670-700/mt CFR Port of New Orleans, with the FOB-based price being estimated at $640-670/mt FOB. As SteelOrbis reported previously, in early May a deal was signed at $600/mt FOB southern ports.