The weekly Davis Index for CIS basic pig iron increased by $7/mt to $351/mt fob Black Sea on Friday on sales to China along with an uptrend in the global ferrous scrap market and a tight supply of the material.
CIS material to China was booked at $378-380/mt cfr at the end of August, and at the beginning of September, sellers from the region achieved further price increase as Asian buyers remained active in the market. A Russian supplier sold 50,000-55,000mt of the material fob Black Sea at $385/mt cfr China for November shipment, while another Russian exporter sold a large cargo at $389/mt cfr for an earlier shipment. A supplier from Far East Russia closed a deal at $389/mt cfr for 15,000mt of pig iron.
The weekly Davis Index for CIS pig iron in Italy rose by $11/mt to $366/mt cfr on Friday as business activity resumed in the country. Offers from the CIS were heard at $370/mt cfr and bids from Italian buyers were at $360/mt cfr as negotiations revived. According to market participants, some deals have been fixed closer to the upper end of the mentioned range, but further details were not available at the time of publication.
Pig iron sales from the CIS to the USA were also reported this week, but they were done at the end of August. Specifically, a Ukrainian exporter sold around 125,000mt of the material in total, though prices varied from $360/mt cfr New Orleans to $370-375/mt cfr Great Lakes. Rumors of Russian suppliers selling a couple of cargoes to the USA were also heard, but the information could not be confirmed.