An independent pig iron producer in the north of Brazil, who closed deals to export the steelmaking grade product to the US at FOB $358/mt in December, has recently closed a deal for the same grade and destination at $330/mt.
He added that there is a reasonable level of demand from the US, but it is becoming increasingly difficult to close deals at reasonable prices, as there are plenty of offers of the product from Brazil and Russia.
A producer of the foundry grade product in the southeast region of Brazil told SteelOrbis that he remains exporting the product in the FOB range of $415/mt to $427/mt, while selling in the domestic market at BRL1,250/mt ($450/mt), ex-works, all taxes except IPI.
In January, Brazil exported 319,000 mt of pig iron, 14 percent less than in January, according to the country’s ministry of development, industry and foreign trade, MDIC. The export FOB price for the steelmaking grade in January was $358/mt to $363/mt, while the foundry grade was exported at up to $494/mt FOB.
Exports to the US went up by 59 percent to 205,000 mt