Brazilian pig iron prices rose slightly in April

Brazilian pig iron prices in April rose by $5/t – to $450/t FOB by April 30, according to Kallanish. According to traders, US steel mills have returned to purchasing the product. Therefore, further price increases are expected in May-June.

The insider information is confirmed by data from the Instituto Aso Brasil association, according to which pig iron exports in March increased by 4.8% y/y – to 350.4 thousand tons. While in general, in the first quarter, a decrease of 18.6% was recorded, to 855 thousand tons. The US market is the main export destination for Brazilian pig iron.

It went up in price in April, despite an increase in supply. Thus, in March, pig iron production increased by 9.8% – to 2.3 million tons, and in the first quarter as a whole by 2.5% – to 6.63 million tons. The increased volumes were in demand by local steel mills. Steel production in Brazil increased by 6.6% – to 2.94 million tons in March and by 2.8% – to 8.48 million tons in Q1.

Italian pig iron prices fell by $35/t from April 4 to April 25, to $355/t FOB Marghera. The dynamics reflect the depressed state of the European steel market in January-April 2025.

Indian pig iron prices stabilized at $415 FOB East Coast in the second half of April after rising by $48/t in the first half of the month. Obviously, such a rapid rise in price was a shock to the market. It is not ready for a further rise in prices, despite the rising cost of finished steel products.

As previously reported, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced plans to increase steel production capacity to 500 million tons per year by 2047 and export potential to 25 million tons. According to him, the country will strive for zero steel imports and net exports of finished steel products.