The weekly Davis Index for CIS basic pig iron increased by $3/mt to $355/mt fob Black Sea on Friday amid new sales to China.
Negotiations were active in the CIS export pig iron market this week but only resulted in sales to China. After around two weeks of silence, an international trader purchased 50,000-55,000mt of pig iron from Russia at $387/mt cfr China for January shipment, while another trader bought the same quantity from Russia at $388/mt cfr for December shipment. Prices did not change significantly as before the holidays in Asia, deals for CIS material were closed at $385-390/mt cfr China.
Some CIS suppliers offered pig iron to the USA at $380/mt cfr this week, but most buyers were uninterested in buying at those rates as US importers preferred to evaluate market conditions carefully before making any bookings.
The weekly Davis Index for CIS pig iron in Italy was flat at $375/mt cfr on Friday. However, some deals are anticipated as negotiations livened up this week. Offers from the CIS were reported at around $380/mt cfr and bids at around $370/mt cfr.