Russia: Pig iron exports up 8% y-o-y in Jan-Nov'21

Russia's pig iron exports saw a rise of 8% y-o-y in the first 11 of CY'21 (Jan-Nov'21), as per data maintained with SteelMint. The cumulative exports stood at 3.56 million tonnes (mnt) in the period under review as against 3.3 mnt seen in the corresponding period last year (CPLY).

USA largest importer

The United States retained its position as the top importer of Russian pig iron in Jan-Nov'21. The country imported 1.62 mnt, higher by 57.2% compared to 1.03 mnt in CPLY.

The second largest importer was Italy with 0.3 mn t, registering a sharp decline of 48.2% y-o-y compared to 0.56 mnt in CPLY.

China stood as the third largest importer from Russia with 0.37 mnt. However, the volumes decreased by 35% compared to 0.6 mnt in CPLY.

The other importers were Belarus, Germany, Turkey and Poland.

Exports up m-o-m in Nov'21

Russia exported 0.34 mnt of pig iron in Nov'21, an increase of 31% m-o-m compared to 0.26 mnt in Oct'21.

Turkey stood as the largest importer at 0.18 mnt in Nov'21 followed by USA at 0.10 mnt and China at 0.05 mnt.

Outlook

Chinese buying interest for pig iron has remained active in Jan'22, given the higher iron ore and scrap prices. This is likely to drive up Russian pig iron export sentiments.