After a month-long consultation period, Fastmarkets has suspended its export price assessment for HBI from main port Venezuela as of Thursday December 1, due to the sharp decline in shipments caused by the longstanding crisis in the country’s ironmaking industry and the unlikely prospect of any improvement in the near future.
In 2021, Venezuela’s HBI exports dropped below 500,000 tonnes, according to Fastmarkets’ calculations based on data from the International Steel Statistics Bureau.
The country was formerly the largest global exporter of HBI, with shipments of around 7 million tonnes in 2008, according to market participant estimates.
The decline in exports was the result of continuing disruption to raw material supplies; a lack of operating funds; insufficient gas and other energy supplies; and Venezuela’s general economic crisis.
If you have any comments on the discontinuation of this price assessment, please contact Marina Shulga by email at: pricing@fastmarkets.com. Please add the subject heading ‘FAO: Marina Shulga, re: HBI export, fob main port Venezuela.’
To see all Fastmarkets’ pricing methodology and specification documents, go to: https://www.fastmarkets.com/about-us/methodology
