Prices for imported basic pig iron (BPI) in the US have been stable or have retreated slightly over the past week, but in general, most market sources believe that high costs in Brazil and Ukraine will prevent any further declines.
The SteelOrbis reference price for import BPI in the US, including both high- and low-phosphorus material, has been settled at $450-470/mt CFR, down by $10/mt from the upper end of the range over the week. Despite this, several market sources polled by SteelOrbis, see the market as relatively stable. A deal for Ukrainian pig iron with low-phosphorus content has been confirmed at $470/mt CFR, but it is not fully reflecting the spot price level, as it is under a long-term agreement. The US importer signed deals for similar grade materials at $480-485/mt CFR in late October. But any further declines from this level are unlikely shortly, according to sources. “Production costs for pig iron are up in Brazil due to the rainy season and remain high in Ukraine. In addition, scrap in the US is expected to be sideways for December,” a US-based source said.
There has been also a rumor about Indian pig iron sales at $430/mt CFR, which has been disproved by several sources usually involved in these sales. "Indians want to import from Russia at below $370/mt CFR and they also want to export their own pig iron at $400-415/mt FOB, so it is just impossible to get $430/mt on CFR," a trader said.
The latest offers for Brazilian BPI with higher phosphorus content – 0.15 percent – have remained at $430/mt FOB and no new deals have been reported so far. “The previous deal was at $425/mt FOB, but this is $430/mt FOB with financing, nothing has changed,” a market source said.
As the overall offer volume of low-phosphorus BPI is limited, the gap between the two grades is still high. Ex-Brazil price for BPI with 0.10 percent of phosphorus content has been assessed at $450-455/mt FOB.