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Chinese Steel Companies to Play Vital Role in Fixing International Iron Ore Price

Posted on: Friday, 17 February 2006, 09:00 CST

Chinese steel companies to play vital role in fixing international iron ore price

BEIJING, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese steel and iron companies should play an important role in deciding the international price of iron ore, said an unnamed official with the Foreign Trade Department of the Ministry of Commerce on Thursday.

As the world's largest iron ore importer, China should have more say in the international talks on the iron ore price, the official said. Figures show that in 2005, China imported iron ore of 275 million tons, up 32.3 percent year on year and accounting for 43 percent of the world's total ore shipment.

China's demand growth for imported iron ore is expected to slow down in 2006, the official said.

The China Steel and Iron Industry Association expects the country's crude steel output to grow less than 10 percent in 2006, and the growth of China's iron ore import will be controlled to within 25 million tons.

China is now witnessing the rocketing of its imported iron ore stockpile, the official said.

Official statistics show that by Feb. 10, 2006, the port stockpile of iron ore totaled some 33 million tons, and the corporate stockpile of iron ore reached about 10 million tons.

Due to the growing stockpile of the iron ore in the country, the iron ore price is expected to drop, the official said. The current price of imported iron ore is about 66 U.S. dollars per ton, down 22.3 percent year on year.

According to figures from Chinese customs, in 2005 China imported iron ore from 40 countries including Australia, India, Brazil and South Africa. China is making an effort to import less iron ore from distant regions such as Latin America so as to reduce import costs, the official said.

Together with the chambers of commerce in the iron and steel industry, the Ministry of Commerce is regulating the domestic market so as to control the unreasonable demand growth for iron ore, the official said.

Source: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS

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