The weekly Davis Index for CIS basic pig iron rose by $10/mt to $339/mt fob Black Sea on Friday amid strong demand from China.
The Asian country remained active in pig iron bookings this week. A Russian supplier sold 50,000mt of the material to an international trader at $375/mt cfr China for September shipment, while a Ukrainian exporter closed a deal for similar tonnage at $370/mt cfr last week. CIS sellers are bullish amid limited availability of pig iron and are targeting $380/mt cfr China now.
The Turkish pig iron market became quiet by the middle of August. However, a sale at a higher price from last week was reported. In this transaction, an international trader sold CIS-origin material at $353/mt cfr to a small Turkish buyer. Previous transactions were fixed in the range of $343-348/mt cfr.
The weekly Davis Index for CIS pig iron in Italy increased by $9/mt to $354/mt cfr on Friday amid higher offers. Considering new sales to China, CIS suppliers began targeting around $360/mt cfr Italy, however, buyers are yet to announce their bids. Negotiations slowed down in Italy this week after active pig iron bookings early in the month.