Global basic pig iron (BPI) suppliers have attempted to push up prices despite the absence of buying activity in traditional key markets. Specifically, at the beginning of the current week a Brazil-based BPI seller started testing the market with offers at $500/mt FOB, up $20/mt from prices fixed in the previous ex-Brazil BPI bookings. Later this week, another supplier in Brazil has followed the same pattern and revised its offers to the abovementioned level. “They have sold a lot of material already, so less availability might support prices,” a major international trader stated. Meanwhile, in China ex-Brazil BPI offers have been heard at $550-555/mt CFR this week. Considering the freight rate at $55-60/mt from Brazil to China, the FOB price would net back to $495/mt FOB. In the meantime, at the end of last week one Brazil-based supplier was seeking a buyer, having been ready to sell at $480-490/mt FOB, depending on the port of discharge.
Likewise, India-based BPI suppliers have increased their export prices, supported mainly from the quite strong demand in the domestic market and exorbitant coke prices. Accordingly, the most recent offers for ex-India BPI to China have been heard at $560/mt CFR, with some suppliers having voiced prices even at $565-570/mt CFR. As SteelOrbis reported earlier, the most recent BPI booking was done at $535-540/mt CFR for ex-Ukraine BPI.
As CIS-based BPI suppliers have mostly taken a cautious stance towards new bookings at prices which are unattractive for them, there has been no fresh information with regard to ex-CIS BPI offers. “Given the billet price in China, I would assume they would be maximizing their billet shipments over BPI and, to my understanding, they have already limited BPI volumes under normal circumstances,” a key international trader commented with regard to a Ukraine-based BPI supplier.
According to market insiders, a Taiwanese steelmaker has been in the market this week with its price idea at $530/mt CFR, unacceptable for any global BPI supplier. “The customer expects the same price as China voices its bids, but with a ship discharge rate of 3,000 mt per day. That makes a crazy freight and a price totally not workable,” an international trader commented.