Pricing is currently predicated solely upon deals for material imported by US buyers.
The proposal comes in response to sustained changes in liquidity patterns, which were first exacerbated by the onset of the Russia-Ukraine war in February 2022.
Changes in flows of material have become ingrained in the US import market as a result, with US importers sourcing the lion share of their material from South Brazil amid sanctions on Russian imports and logistical difficulties in securing continuous shipments of material from Ukraine.
The addition of bids, offers and assessments to the pricing process will allow Fastmarkets to more accurately reflect the market level without reliance on deals alone during periods of low liquidity.
This will also align the assessment methodology with that of Fastmarkets’ existing CFR Gulf of Mexico pig iron price, which captures the same incoming shipments of Brazilian and Ukrainian basic material per the the below material specifications, before these sales are broken out and shipped basis FOB NOLA to US mills and foundries.
Fastmarkets acknowledges that shipments of Russian material do not formulate part of its weekly assessment period at the present time but has no immediate plans to change the name of its Russian/Ukrainian basic pig iron price.
The specifications for the grades in question are as follows:
MB-FE-0003 Hot-briquetted iron, fob New Orleans, $/tonne
Quality: Min size: standard shape featuring a metallic iron content of 85-85.5 percent carbon, 0.6-0.7 percent carbon (total iron content 91.5-92 percent), .01 percent sulfur, .07 percent phosphorus and 5-6.3 percent gangue
Location: fob New Orleans
Timing: Spot
Unit: USD/tonne
Payment terms: Prices are those effective on the date of publication for future delivery of material loaded on barge (free on board) New Orleans
Publication: Weekly. Monday, by 5pm NY time
MB-IRO-0078 Pig iron basic grade, Brazil, fob New Orleans, $/tonne
Quality: Min size: standard size featuring 3.5-4.5 percent carbon, less than 1.5 percent silicon, 0.5-1.0 percent manganese, less than 0.05 percent sulfur and less than 0.12 percent phosphorus.
Quantity: 1,000-70,000 tonnes
Location: fob New Orleans
Timing: Spot
Unit: USD/tonne
Payment terms: Prices are those effective on the date of publication for future delivery of material loaded on barge (free on board) New Orleans
Publication: Weekly. Monday, by 5pm NY time
MB-FEN-0004 Pig iron foundry grade, Brazil, fob New Orleans, $/tonne
Quality: Min size: standard size featuring 3.5- 4.5 percent carbon, 2.25-3.50 percent silicon, 0.5-1.0 percent manganese, less than 0.05 percent sulfur and less than 0.12 percent phosphorus.
Location: fob New Orleans
Timing: Spot
Unit: USD/tonne
Payment terms: Prices are those effective on the date of publication for future delivery of material loaded on barge (free on board) New Orleans
Publication: Weekly. Monday, by 5pm NY time
MB-IRO-0079 Pig iron basic grade, Ukraine/ Russia, fob New Orleans, $/tonne
Quality: Min size: standard size featuring 3.5-4.5 percent carbon, less than 1.5 percent silicon, 0.5-1.0 percent manganese, less than 0.05 percent sulfur and less than 0.12 percent phosphorus.
Quantity: 1,000-70,000 tonnes
Location: fob New Orleans
Timing: Spot
Unit: USD/tonne
Payment terms: Prices are those effective on the date of publication for future delivery of material loaded on barge (free on board) New Orleans
Publication: Weekly. Monday, by 5pm NY time
These grades form part of Fastmarkets’ scrap package.
For more information or to provide feedback on this pricing notice, or if you would like to provide price information by becoming a data submitter to these prices, please contact Amy Hinton by email at: pricing@fastmarkets.com. Please add the subject heading “FAO: Amy Hinton Re: Alternative irons.” Please indicate if comments are confidential. Fastmarkets will consider all comments received and will make comments not marked as confidential available upon request.
To see all Fastmarkets pricing methodology and specification documents, go to https://www.fastmarkets.com/methodology.
