Tulachermet, one of the biggest merchant pig iron suppliers in the world, plans to stop the operations of Blast Furnace No. 3 (BF No. 3) for a full repair at the end of March for around a month, Davis Index has learnt.
BF No. 3 is Tulachermet’s largest blast furnace with a daily output of up to 4,500mt of pig iron. The unit produces around 70pc of the company’s total volume.
According to Sergey Frolov, vice president for strategy and communication of IMH, the parent company of Tulachermet, the conditions in the merchant pig iron market are conducive as demand for the material is recovering in China and its consumption is increasing in the US. Additionally, he told Davis Index, prices for pig iron and steel semis are rising globally and Tulachermet has already sold all pig iron on March and April production.
The company is negotiating at $360/mt cfr USA and $350/mt fob all other destinations for its material produced in the period of May-July.
Tula-Steel, a sister company to IMH, may reduce rebar production and sales in March due to the repairs at BF No. 3. Besides, the company considers that merchant pig iron and steel billet sales are more profitable than rebar sales at present.