Pig iron demand weak in Turkey, prices remain stable

Pig iron offers from CIS suppliers to Turkish mills and traders have showed little changes over the past few weeks. Accordingly, Ukrainian pig iron offers to Turkey are at $410-420/mt CFR and Russian pig iron offers can be found at $430-435/mt CFR, while Turkish buyers are requesting prices below these levels. Even though market sources believe pig iron import offers at $410-415/mt CFR are reasonable, especially after the conclusion of an ex-US scrap deal in Turkey at the price level of $400/mt CFR, Turkish steelmakers are seeking to conclude pig iron deals at $400-410/mt CFR.
 
If demand in the Turkish rebar and flat steel market indicates improvements in the coming weeks and if scrap transaction prices continue their upward movement, then it is unlikely that suppliers in the CIS will reduce their pig iron prices for Turkey.