The weekly Davis Index for basic pig iron (BPI) increased by $9/mt to $295/mt cfr New Orleans on Thursday amid fresh BPI sales originating from Brazil and the CIS to the US.
Supply of material is expected to tighten until July as Brazilian and CIS producers have sold large volumes to China since February for May/June delivery. The most recent sales concluded with China, Spain and Italy, confirmed late last week, were priced at $305-320/mt, which places upward pressure on BPI sales to the US.
Despite the reported tightness a Brazilian producer sold BPI to the US at $287/mt cif Nola and Mobile this week. The sales were confirmed on Friday. A market participant believes the lower price for this deal was likely due to the material’s chemical constituents and elevated levels of phosphorus, at 0.15pc, above the target of 0.12pc max.
Another sale confirmed to the US was from a CIS-origin producer that sold the material at $300/mt cfr between April 27-28.
The index for nodular pig iron (NPI) imports was unchanged at $373/mt cfr Nola, as offers are not readily available and there are no confirmed sales since Dec 2019.
The weekly Davis Index for US hot briquetted iron (HBI) imports was flat at $198/mt cfr Nola, amid low offer prices and low demand. The last HBI import material offers to the US were around $245/mt in September 2019, with no confirmed activity since then.