The weekly Davis Index for CIS basic pig iron tumbled by $43/mt to $503/mt fob Black Sea on Friday amid a downtrend in the global ferrous scrap and steel product markets.
Month-end trading remained slow as demand for the material was seen only in the US. Suppliers had to accept lower prices after importers referred to the bearish scrap and steel products market. A Russian supplier was heard to have struck a deal to the USA at $530/mt cfr, but the cargo was sold in parts to different buyers. Two other bookings were fixed to the USA from Brazil at $510/mt cfr for March shipment.
The weekly Davis Index for CIS pig iron in Italy plunged by $35/mt to $530/mt cfr on Friday on sporadic negotiations, which did not result in transactions. Italian buyers were inactive in anticipation of a further price decrease.
Demand for CIS pig iron was minimal in China and Turkey with no firm bids reported. Importers from both countries preferred to watch the development in the ferrous scrap market, considering possible bookings of it.