US pig iron market slows with scrap

US pig iron demand has remained very quiet over the last month as US scrap and long product prices have softened.

SteelOrbis learns that there are hardly any pig iron transactions currently being concluded by US steel mills. US mills have already bought the pig iron tonnages they needed to increase steel production over the past several months and as steel demand has since cooled off, producers are not expected to return to the pig iron market in the short-term.

Currently, on the higher end of the pricing spectrum, pig iron is offered from northern Brazil and Russia to the US at about $345/mt CFR Nola. With this month’s US scrap price decrease of approximately $30 to $35/ton, pig iron offers are expected to follow suit and drop around $35/mt to the level of $305 to $310/mt CFR Nola.