Starting the current week, Turkish steelmaker Kardemir announced its new pig iron price list, keeping prices unchanged from the levels in its previous list dated January 6. Following Kardemir's latest pig iron price announcement, in the Turkish domestic market its H1 grade pig iron price stands at $585-595/mt + VAT, while its C1 grade pig iron price is at $560-570/mt + VAT.
Hikes in scrap prices have triggered increases in pig iron prices. According to Orbis Steel Index, this week scrap prices in Turkey have increased by 4.89 percent week on week, resulting in a 3.63 percent increase in the Turkish Rebar Index. As a result of the strong trend seen in the scrap markets, pig iron prices are expected to see an upward adjustment in the remainder of this week. In the Turkish domestic market, producers now prefer to supply their iron ore needs from the local market, since imported iron ore prices are higher.
Last week, most Ukrainian and Russian pig iron suppliers were absent from the market due to the holidays in the CIS region. As a result, offers of international trading companies have dominated the market. It is anticipated that ex-CIS pig iron offers will be issued in the coming days, while Russian origin export offers for February production are soon to be announced.
On the nodular pig iron side, import offers given to Turkey have increased by $25/mt from December 2010 to January this year to $590-595/mt CIF. While most Turkish foundries are conducting capacity expansion works nowadays, foundries which have already increased their inventories prefer to adopt a wait-and-see stance, while foundries with low inventories continue to conclude booking despite the rising prices.