05/09/2025 21:45:41 UTC|Market Commentary
Author Fast Webs<“>.> | EN

* Quiet market conditions persist following tariff announcement
* US prime scrap prices drop $30/lt in trading for May-delivered volumes

US pig iron import prices were steady in the week to May 9 as US steelmakers continued to draw down stockpiles of pig iron inventory while negotiating lower prices for May-delivered ferrous scrap prices in the domestic market.
Platts assessed the weekly US pig iron import price at $470/mt CIF New Orleans on May 9, unchanged from one week earlier.
A pig iron seller in Brazil said quiet spot market conditions have persisted since the US on April 2 applied 10% tariffs on all imports from Brazil and Ukraine, the top two suppliers of pig iron to US mini-mills.
No. 1 busheling prices for May-delivered volumes fell $30/lt this week to $425/lt on a delivered basis in the Midwest and Southeast, as steelmakers managed capacity utilization rates to support finished steel prices. Obsolete grades of scrap fell by a larger margin of $40-$50/lt as supply outstripped demand, increasing the spread between prime and shredded scrap to $45/lt compared to $20/lt in May 2024.
US steelmakers were also concerned about the impact of a 10% tariff on prime scrap imports from the UK and EU on feedstock costs. Total US imports of No. 1 bundles were 1.09 million in 2024, with 272,581 mt, or 25%, arriving from the Netherlands, Sweden, the UK and Poland.
An East Coast trader said US steelmakers might delay further pig iron restocking as long as possible in the hope that trade talks result in the removal of the 10% tariff on shipments from Brazil and Ukraine.
Platts is part of S&P Global Commodity Insights.