Following quite a long silence in terms of their booking activities, US buyers have returned to the basic pig iron (BPI) market, showing interest in ex-Brazil material and also in ex-Russia BPI.
Accordingly, by the end of the past week, two cargoes of ex-Brazil BPI were traded to the US at $480/mt FOB southern ports of Brazil, for November shipment. While the volume of one lot is said to be 30,000 mt, the other cargo is reportedly for 50,000-55,000 mt. The FOB price is in line with the price fixed in deals done to China a week ago. Taking into account the financing and a freight rate from Brazil to the US of at least $40/mt, the CFR prices are expected to be around $525-530/mt CFR.
In addition, a deal for ex-Russia BPI at $525-530/mt CFR, done also to the US, has been widely discussed by market insiders. However, by the time of publication neither the buyer nor the seller have confirmed the information. “In a declining market, the suppliers are aiming to keep the details a secret for as long as possible. That is a common situation,” an international trader commented. With regard to the abovementioned developments, SteelOrbis’ assessment for ex-CIS BPI prices has declined slightly to $475-510/mt FOB Black sea from $480-510/mt FOB Black Sea a week ago, with the high end of the price range valid for offerings to Turkey and Europe.