Buying interest from traditional basic pig iron (BPI) customers has remained frozen. Some Russia-based suppliers have decided to shift their efforts to find buyers in China, though the situation there is likewise unfavorable. “The market is clearly weak. China is not in a buying mood at all,” an international trader commented. However, BPI offers from Russia at $550-560/mt CFR to China have been heard by the end of the current week, with the low end of offers valid for shipments from Russia’s Far Eastern ports. Meanwhile, the high end of the abovementioned range nets back to around $485-490/mt FOB Black Sea, taking into account the assessed freight at $70-75/mt. “Offers at such low levels to China mean that customers in the US do not accept even $540/mt CFR, taking into account the correlation between the US and China,” a trader stated. “I do not know what the discussions are in the US, but the last ex-Brazil BPI sale has painfully limited the market,” another international trader said, echoing the negative vibes in the market. The abovementioned offers have not taken into consideration in SteelOrbis’ assessment for ex-CIS BPI prices, as the information has not been officially confirmed by producers by the time of publication.
Meanwhile, SteelOrbis has heard of a 5,000 mt lot of ex-Ukraine BPI sold to Italy at $580/mt CFR, for August production. The FOB price is hard to estimate accurately, as the material is shipped as a mixed cargo.
On balance, taking into account the absence of transactions for lots of more or less standard sizes (up from 20,000 mt) during the given week, the SteelOrbis reference price for ex-CIS BPI has remained unchanged compared to the previous week, at $550-560/mt FOB Black Sea.
Meanwhile, Brazil-based BPI suppliers have adopted a watch-and-see stance, preferring not to voice any levels at the moment.