The weekly Davis Index for CIS basic pig iron increased by $20/mt to $540/mt fob Black Sea on Friday amid active trading.
Pig iron demand remained strong in the USA, driving global prices higher. A supplier from Russia sold 50,000mt of the material at $570/mt cfr New Orleans. The cargo is due to be shipped from the Baltic Sea in May. Last week, another Russian exporter closed a deal at $550/mt cfr.
New transactions for pig iron were also fixed in Turkey in the first week of March. A supplier from Ukraine sold 5,000mt of the material at $565/mt cfr while another Ukrainian exporter traded similar tonnages at $573/mt cfr. Prices rose by $5-13/mt over a week.
The weekly Davis Index for CIS pig iron in Italy increased by $15/mt to $568/mt cfr amid higher offers and price increases in deals at alternative outlets. However, negotiations in Italy were sporadic and did not result in transactions. CIS suppliers raised offers to $570/mt cfr, while Italian buyers were inactive.
A Russian pig iron exporter sold small cargoes to Western Europe, South Korea, and Saudi Arabia at $570/mt fob different ports this week. Total tonnages were around 20,000mt.