Brazilian basic pig iron (BPI) suppliers have started September shipment sales as expected, with prices in line or a few dollars below the latest deals done for August shipment.
In particular, 50,000 mt of ex-Brazil BPI with 0.15 percent phosphorous content were traded at $440/mt FOB late last week, while another cargo for a similar volume have been sold at the same price for September shipment this week. Though some sources said that by early Friday they had no confirmation that the deal was finalized, they agree that negotiations at these prices for September are continuing and it is just a matter of time before a deal is done. As reported by SteelOrbis last week, the previous contracts from Brazil were signed at $441-443/mt FOB. “The price is at $440/mt FOB, not changed much, and for October this may also continue,” a Brazilian source said.
The price in the latest deal for ex-Brazil BPI has been assessed at $465/mt CFR New Orleans and has been confirmed by the import side as “the current workable level.” At the same time, the price for BPI with a lower phosphorous content of 0.10 percent has been confirmed at $475/mt CFR, though no new deals have been reported so far. The reference import price in the US has been corrected down by $2.5/mt over the past week to $465-475/mt CFR.