The weekly Davis Index for basic pig iron (BPI) ticked down by $4/mt to $573/mt cfr New Orleans port on Thursday as activity slackened over the past two weeks following more than 10 weeks of strong sales and price surges.
No new direct BPI deals to the US have been reported. The next transactions will likely entail late May delivery with prices expected to fall compared with the peaks attained on Jan 7. New offer levels remain near those from last week but are being met with little consumer interest.
Demand for BPI has weakened allowing supply to catch up with interest levels for new orders. Although prices are expected to soften, it may only be temporary as some sources suggest that Chinese demand is projected to rise after a good portion of BPI tonnage sold to China was redirected to alternate destinations.
As some of the latest US sales were a result of material resale from China to US consumers in need of prompt shipments, the most recent BPI bookings to the US from Brazil and CIS stand around the latest peak of $570-575/mt cfr Nola.
The Davis Index for nodular pig iron (NPI) imports moved down by $10/mt to $645/mt cfr Nola. The material remains in tight supply, but the latest offers and bids heard for NPI have ranged from $630-660/mt cfr Nola with offers indicating late Q2 delivery.
The weekly Davis Index for US hot briquetted iron (HBI) imports dropped by $15/mt to $420/mt cfr Nola. New offers have not been reported and the latest price evaluation for the grade compares assumed buyer interest with price outlook on other material.