Prices for ex-Russia basic pig iron (BPI) have settled at higher levels in the latest deals to Turkey after another large buyer, Europe, accepted an increase. Despite the limited hikes in scrap prices in Turkey since late January, the lack of pig iron sources at the moment has supported prices.
According to market sources, over 140,000 mt of ex-Russia BPI have been traded from mills to different market destinations since mid-January for February-March shipment at around $415-423/mt FOB Black Sea. Some of the volumes are claimed to be for low-manganese BPI, though a few market sources agree that a large part is for high-manganese BPI.
The latest deals for a sizable volume in total of ex-Russia BPI have been done to Turkish buyers, mainly traders or foundries, at $420/mt FOB, translating to $440-445/mt CFR. According to market sources, the deals were for high-manganese BPI. Steel mills are still mainly avoiding buying large volumes of Russian BPI at higher prices as scrap has settled at $417-422/mt CFR for now. “This is a high price. Steel mills did not bid much above $400/mt FOB last week,” a trader said. Moreover, a few other traders have confirmed that small sales (5,000-10,000 mt each) have been done at $430-445/mt CFR in the Turkish secondary market “depending on the manganese content”. “Steel mills will still be focused on scrap [imports], and higher-priced pig iron will go to foundries in smaller volumes,” a source said.
Also, a deal for Russian BPI has been heard to Europe again at near the same price, $420/mt FOB, following a contract for 40,000 mt to a distributor reported by SteelOrbis in the middle of January at $415-420/mt FOB. Prices are on the rise as customers have had limited cheap options. However, a representative of one steel mill said that the tradable level for a large volume of high-manganese pig iron is still at $425-430/mt CFR, which translates to $395-400/mt FOB.
Another Russian pig iron producer has sold one small parcel of 9,000 mt of pig iron to South Korea, as reported earlier. However, the final price has been confirmed at $490/mt CFR and it translates to around $415-420/mt FOB, a bit higher than was reported last Friday. Also, the same mill is heard to have sold a bigger lot to a Chinese trader for further distribution in Asia. However, the final price is not clear by the time of publication and some sources said it was done some time ago at “below $400/mt FOB” for shipment in mid-February.
The SteelOrbis reference price for ex-Black Sea BPI has been corrected upwards to $400-420/mt FOB from $400-415/mt FOB settled last week, as the range includes both latest deals and offers at the higher end and bids from large steel mills at the lower end.
