The weekly Davis Index for basic pig iron (BPI) dropped by $13/mt to $532/mt cfr New Orleans port on Friday amid falling sale prices for the latest transactions, while the CIS BPI index declined by $14/mt to $491/mt fob Black Sea.
Three heard deals were concluded at $525-535/mt cfr Nola for CIS and Brazilian material late last week. Suppliers accepted lower prices due to the high availability of BPI. Hurricane Ida has also impacted the Nola port causing loss of power, shipment, and unloading delays.
The Davis Index for nodular pig iron (NPI) imports was flat at $720/mt cfr Nola as offers remain firm on limited supply. US hot briquetted iron (HBI) imports are unchanged at $455/mt cfr Nola on low activity.
This week, Brazilian exporters sold two cargoes of BPI to China at $530-540/mt cfr. Brazilian suppliers were also heard to be negotiating with Turkish mills, which were bidding $525-535/mt cfr, while offers were reported at $540/mt cfr. Turkish mills were looking for the material for September shipment.
CIS BPI exporters received inquiries from Turkish mills and two sales were heard at around $530/mt cfr Marmara and $538/mt cfr Iskenderun.
Demand for BPI improved in Italy with bids in the range of $520-525/mt cfr and offers at $540/mt cfr. As a result, the weekly Davis Index for CIS BPI in Italy dropped by $14/mt to $531/mt cfr on Friday. A Russian supplier sold two cargoes (10,000mt in total) to Western Europe at around $570/mt fob Baltic Sea.