The weekly Davis Index for basic pig iron (BPI) ticked up by $4/mt to $672/mt cfr New Orleans port Friday following new, higher-priced deals. The weekly Davis Index for CIS BPI rose by $9/mt to $642/mt fob Black Sea on Friday.
Pig iron demand remained strong in the USA, driving global prices higher. A supplier from Russia sold 55,000mt of the material at $672/mt cfr New Orleans. The cargo is due to be shipped by the end of August or the beginning of September. Late last week, another Russian exporter was heard to have closed a deal at $667.50/mt cfr.
New transactions for pig iron were also fixed in Turkey, where material from east Ukraine changed hands at $640-645/mt cfr.
The weekly Davis Index for CIS pig iron in Italy increased by $6/mt to $669/mt cfr on Friday. Offers from the CIS rose to $680/mt cfr by the end of the week, while Ukrainian material changed hands at $660-665/mt cfr early in the week. Besides, a cargo of CIS pig iron was sold to Spain at $693/mt cfr.
The Davis Index for nodular pig iron (NPI) imports remained at $748/mt cfr Nola. The material remains in limited supply with offers involving future shipment only. The latest offers for NPI are firmly at $750-780/mt cfr Nola with bids just under.
US hot briquetted iron (HBI) imports were flat at $470/mt cfr Nola. New offers or bids have not been heard for the grade, but the material’s price movements are based on the most recent offers along with a price comparison with similar grades.