Indian bulk pig iron exports increased by about 350% in first eleven months of 2017 according to data maintained by SteelMint based on vessel line up.
Indian bulk pig iron exports were recorded at 530,000 MT during Jan-Nov 2017, which was 120,000 MT during the same period in 2016. Thailand remains the largest importer of Indian pig iron contributing around 40%, followed by US (13.5%) and Taiwan (7%).
MMTC (220,000 MT) was the largest exporter from India, followed by Vedanta (180,000 MT) and RINL (70,000 MT). India produces about 9.5 million tonnes of sale-able pig iron annually.
Further, in CY 2017 (Jan-Oct), India’s total pig iron production was around 7.68 MnT. Prior to this, it was around 7.91 MnT in CY 2016 (Jan-Oct) & at 8.12 MnT in CY 2015 (Jan-Oct).
Driving Factors
Indian pig iron exports observed a sharp increase owing to following reasons
1. Rising scrap prices in global market, which gave room to Indian pig iron exporters
2. Absence of Chinese billet in seaborne market, which increased steel making in different parts of the world
3. According to world steel association, crude steel production has increased across the world in 2017, which increased demand for scrap and pig iron
Pig iron exports from India will continue to grow
We expect pig iron exports from India will continue to grow in coming months due to increasing crude steel production from large steel makers. Demand for Indian pig iron will also hold firm due to limited supply of scrap in seaborne market.
Trade-Wise
1. The global export offers for steel grade Pig Iron are on upward trend. Our last assessment (5th Dec) stands at USD 345-350/MT FoB India, USD 330-340/MT FoB Russia & USD 355-360/MT CNF Italy
2. Two cargoes were offered by private manufacturers last week and are currently under negotiation
3. Two bulk deals have been reported from India in November at around USD 335-340/MT FOB India.
4. The Indian private pig iron producers are assuming prices to rise on firm demand and also rising coking coal & scrap prices globally
Top Consignor, Load Port & Unload Country – 2017
| Consignor | Load Port | Unload Country | |||
| Name | Quantity | Name | Quantity | Name | Quantity |
| MMTC | 0.22 | Paradeep | 0.25 | Thailand | 0.23 |
| Vedanta | 0.18 | Mormugao | 0.18 | United States | 0.07 |
| RINL | 0.07 | Vishakhapatnam | 0.07 | Taiwan | 0.04 |
| NMDC | 0.03 | Jaigarh | 0.02 | Bangladesh | 0.03 |
| SAIL | 0.01 | Haldia | 0.01 | Italy | 0.03 |
| Others | 0.02 | Others | 0.12 | ||
| Grand Total | 0.53 | 0.53 | 0.53 | ||
Quantity in MnT
Sources: SteelMint Stats.
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