The weekly Davis Index for basic pig iron (BPI) ticked down by $2/mt to $650/mt cfr New Orleans port on Friday in a quiet import market as domestic trading takes precedence. The weekly Davis Index for CIS BPI was flat at $613/mt fob Black Sea on Friday.
A BPI shipment from Russia (Baltic Sea) to the US transacted at $625/mt cfr Nola, though market participants view this as a “distress shipment” made ahead of the new duties and don’t feel it reflects the current market. Offer levels remain between $645-655/mt cfr Nola.
The Davis Index for nodular pig iron (NPI) imports is flat at $753/mt cfr Nola. The material remains in limited supply with offers solely entailing future shipment. Offers heard recently for NPI firmly range between $750-780/mt cfr Nola with bids a touch below.
US hot briquetted iron (HBI) imports held firm at $478/mt cfr Nola as new offers and bids are lacking for the grade. The price level for the material is calculated to include the latest offers along with price comparisons with similar grades.
Trading was muted in the CIS Black Sea basin and as a result, the weekly Davis Index for CIS BPI in Italy was unchanged at $655/mt cfr on Friday. In Turkey, a stockist was heard to have purchased some tonnages at around $650/mt cfr for distribution.
Some transactions for CIS pig iron were fixed in Asia. Thus, an exporter from Far East Russia sold 15,000mt of the material to China at $610/mt cfr and 5,000mt to Japan at $640/mt cfr.