Global Pig iron prices in CIS nations continue to remain stable owing to limited buying activity. There is a traditional weakening in steel demand towards the end of the year as construction activity slows down with onset of winter and upcoming festive season.
In addition, uncertainty in the raw material prices also made buyers cautious regarding the purchase and they are in wait and watch mode to see in which direction the market moves.
Market participants expect that buying activity will remain weak until the end of this year.
Notably, India’s largest trading house, MMTC is yet to conclude its one of the Pig iron export tender for 30,000 MT. The company has received bids at USD 284/MT, FOB East Coast, higher by USD 4/MT from its last tender.
Meanwhile, India’s leading Pig iron producer and exporter, Vizag Steel has recently cancelled its export tender for 20,000 MT Pig iron which expired on 14 Dec’16 on higher expectations. The company expected bid around USD 300/MT, FOB East Coast but received bids at USD 281.5/MT, FoB East Coast which is much lesser. However, owing to better realization from the domestic market (current offers at INR 21,500-21,900/MT (USD 320-326/MT) the company is planning not to issue any new tender in the near term.
Global Pig iron prices in Week 52
|
Country |
Price (USD/MT) |
W-0-W (USD/MT) |
Remarks |
| FoB Black Sea (Russia) |
285-310 |
– |
Prices remained relatively unchanged as no new offers or deals were heard in the market. |
| FoB Black Sea (Ukraine) |
315-320 |
– |
Prices remained unchanged as no new deals concluded last week. |
| FoB Brazil |
295-300 |
– |
Prices remained stable due to higher raw material cost. |
| FoB India |
280-285 |
5 |
MMTC, one of the largest pig iron exporter has recently received bid for and export tender of 15,000 MT Pig iron at USD 284/MT, FoB. |
| CIF Italy |
300-330 |
5 |
Italy, a small buyer purchases high-manganese Pig iron from CIS nations. However, currently they are not buying Pig iron as they see weak demand for their steel products. |
| CIF Thailand |
300-310 |
– |
Currently offers will come around USD 300-310/M, CFR Thailand. However, no deal has heard at such price level. |
| CIF Turkey |
330-335 |
– |
Turkey prefers scrap over Billet and Pig iron. Current offers for US origin HMS 80:20 scrap at USD 281/MT, CFR Turkey which is much cheaper than Pig iron. Market participants expects scrap prices to reach to USD 330/MT, CFR Turkey soon, maybe then Turkey will look away from scrap. |
| CIF Bangladesh |
300-310 |
– |
Bangladesh mostly imports pig iron from India. MMTC’s last concluded tender for 15,000 MT on 02 Dec’16 is likely to ship to Bangladesh. |
Source: SteelMint Research
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