The weekly Davis Index for basic pig iron (BPI) decreased by $8/mt to $578/mt cfr New Orleans port Friday on sluggish demand while the CIS BPI index dropped by $18/mt to $539/mt fob Black Sea amid abundant supply.
The US imported pig iron market was quiet during the week due to inactive buyers, who expect lower prices after the material’s supply from the CIS outpaced demand.
The Davis Index for nodular pig iron (NPI) imports remained unchanged at $740/mt cfr Nola on limited supply and US hot briquetted iron (HBI) imports also trended flat at $470/mt cfr Nola amid slow negotiations.
CIS exporters decreased prices to attract buyers but sold only a few small cargoes to alternative destinations. A new booking was reported in Italy, where around 5,000mt of Ukrainian material changed hands at $580/mt cfr. As a result, the weekly Davis Index for CIS BPI in Italy dropped by $16/mt to $580/mt cfr. A Russian exporter sold 2,000mt of low-manganese pig iron to Western Europe at $660/mt fob Baltic Sea.
One more transaction was fixed in Asia, where an exporter sold 3,000mt of low-manganese pig iron from the Far East of Russia at $730/mt cfr to Japan.