Exporters have virtually no more room for price increase

摘要

CIS pig iron producers are still focused on the Chinese market in June. Lively demand in the Far East allowed suppliers to achieve another rise in contract prices, whereas other markets are almost inactive. As a result, pig iron prices added 3?5% month-on-month. Demand stays weak in the traditional markets for CIS pig iron as the finished steel segment provides no support. An extremely slow recovery of steel production coupled with steadily weak consuming sectors is still the major problem. Specifically, steelmaking capacity utilization in the US is still below 55%, and European countries are facing a similar situation – according to market insiders, local mills have a rather low order intake. Besides, buyers are unwilling to book pig iron at prices registered in the recent deals with China.