Prices for Brazilian pig iron fell by $10/t in October

Average export prices for Brazilian pig iron fell to $385/t in the first half of October, compared to $395/t at the end of September. According to Kallanish, prices fell by $10–15 per tonne because producers needed to sell their goods before the start of the rainy season in October–March. This forced them to lower prices under pressure from US buyers.

Brazilian pig iron exports remained extremely volatile. In September, exports rose 2.4% month-on-month to 295,000 tons after falling 48% month-on-month in August. This indicates that the industry is gradually returning to its usual rhythm after the summer “shake-up” caused by US tariff policy. Overall, in January–September, Brazilian pig iron exports increased by 6.3% y/y – to 3 million tons.

In addition, according to SteelOrbis, Brazilian exporters faced difficulties with sales in their key markets, forcing them to offer additional discounts for alternative markets.

The decline in prices led to a drop in profitability, which negatively affected production dynamics. According to the Brazilian Steelmakers Association (IAB), total pig iron production in Brazil in September amounted to 2.16 million tons, which is 2.5% less than in August. In the first nine months of the year, output fell by 1.5% y/y – to 19.5 million tons.

On the Black Sea pig iron market, average prices (on a Black Sea FOB basis) stabilized at $313/t in October, compared to $311/t at the end of September. At the same time, Russian pig iron was supplied to Turkey at a price of $342/t in September.

Pig iron imports to Turkey rose sharply in September. According to TUIK, pig iron supplies increased by 131% y/y to 168.5 thousand tons. All of this volume came from Russia, which saw a 275% y/y increase in supplies.

In January–September, Turkey’s pig iron imports grew by 66% y/y – to 1.65 million tons. Russia not only almost doubled its supplies but also took the leading position (77% of the import market) with a volume of 1.3 million tons.

Against the backdrop of growing imports, Turkey’s own pig iron production is declining. According to WorldSteel, output fell by 9% y/y – to 7 million tons in January-September. At the same time, in September, production grew by 2% y/y for the second month in a row, to 857,000 tons.

In other regional markets, pig iron prices moved in different directions. Activity and prices in the European pig iron market rose in the second half of October as buyers sought to purchase more pig iron ahead of the expected introduction of CBAM in early 2026. At the same time, domestic pig iron prices in China rose to $412/t at the end of October, after hovering around $407/t for most of the month. According to Metallplace, pig iron prices on the Indian market remained stable (at $350/t) for most of October, falling to $343/t at the end of the month.

It should be recalled that export prices for Brazilian pig iron in September ranged from $400 to $410/t, compared to $400 to $405/t in August. The exemption of Brazilian pig iron from US tariffs did not revive the market situation.

As previously reported, global pig iron production in January–September 2025 decreased by 1% compared to the same period last year, to 1.04 billion tons. The largest pig iron producing countries at the end of the period were China – 645.9 million tons (-1.1% y/y), India – 114.9 million tons (+7.5% y/y), and Russia – 44.1 million tons (-0.7% y/y).

Courtesy : https://gmk.center/