International Pig Iron Market

Jorge Madias
GLG Phone Talking, January 16, 2018
 Pig iron
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 Shapes
 Ingots (most cases)
 Granulated
 No defined shape
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 Guseiro specifications
Alterosa Simasul Fergumar Sama Ferroest Plantar
e
C (%) 3,5-4,5 n.d. 3,5-4,5 3,5-4,5 3,5-4,5 3,5-4,5
Si (%) <1,5 <0,2 <1,0 <4,5 <1,5 <1,0
Mn (%) <1,0 <0,3 <1,0 <1,0 <0,25 <1,0
P (%) <0,15 <0,15 <0,08 <0,15 <0,12 <0,15
S (%) <0,040 <0,025 <0,05 <0,05 <0,50 <0,020
Fe (%) n.d. 95 94-95 n.d. n.d. n.d.
Weight 99% 3-8 n.d n.d. 5 n.d. n.d.
(kg)
Bulk n.d n.d. 3,5 n.d n.d. n.d.
density
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 Specifications
 Carbon: High
 Sulphur
 Low, for charcoal-based blast furnaces
 Phosphorus
 Depending of iron ore
 Some gusieros have dephos facilities
 Weght: 3 – 8 kg
 Bulk density: 3 – 4 kg/dm3
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 International trade
 Suppliers
 Russia
 Four dedicated blast furnaces
 Four integrated producers selling surplus
 Brazil
 80 to 90 guseiros; 163 MBF
 Consumers
 USA
 Asia
 Domestic trade
 7 Mt 2009 (Russia, Brazil, India, Japan, South Africa, European
Union)
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 Market size

Ch. Barrington, 2010

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 Exporters

Ch. Barrington, 2010

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 Price
 Strongly linked to 600
USD/metric t FOB Brazil
demand 500

Related to premium
400

300 USD/metric t FOB Brazil

scrap price 200

100

0
1 1 2 3 3 4 5 5 6 7 7
n -1 p-1 y-1 n-1 p-1 y-1 n-1 p-1 y-1 n-1 p-1
Ja Se Ma Ja Se Ma Ja Se Ma Ja Se
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 Trends
 Worldwide: more availability of scrap in the medium
run (but mostly old scrap)
 USA
 Nucor demand satisfied by own DRI plant
 Steel Dynamics, Gerdau, CMC: voestalpine Texas o
Brazilian pig iron
 Brazil
 Some MBF restarting (Viena Açailândia) probably because
of domestic market improvement
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 Valor en uso
 Ausencia de residuales
 Mayor productividad
 Menor consumo de energía eléctrica
 Mayor densidad de carga
 Aporte de carbono para combinar con oxígeno
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 Valor en uso
 Efecto del cobre
Tipo de metálico Contenido de cobre Valor adicional del
arrabio o HBI (USD/t)
Paquetes No. 1 0,1 20
Recorte 0,08 16
Pesada No. 1 0,3 60
Pesada No. 2 0,5 100
Fragmentada No. 1 0,17 34
Fragmentada No. 2 0,25 50
Chapa y estructural 0,15 30
HBI/DRI 0,002 (depende del mineral)
Arrabio 0,002 (depende del mineral)
Jones, J.A.T., 2013
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 Logística
 Similar a la de la chatarra, con la ventaja de la mayor
densidad
 Manipulación
 Preparación
 Solamente requieren preparación los derrames y
fondos de cuchara
 Se suelen utilizar «peras»
 Lecturas adicionales
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 Moore, Ch. M.; Aylen, J.; «

Is Pig Iron Vital to Electric Furnace Users? ». 2002 Electric
Furnace Proceedings.
 Barrington, Ch.; «Merchant pig iron – Overview of global
trends». 2010 China International Pig Iron Industry Seminar
(Powerpoint presentation).
 Jones, J.A.T.; «
Determination of the Intrinsic Value of Ore-Based Metallics».
AISTech Conference Proceedings, pp. 717-724.