Tuesday, May 05, 2009
China iron ore demand may drop 60 mln tons in 2009
Tuesday, 05 May 2009
China's iron ore demand is expected to slide 60 million tons this year, which will be accompanied by slide of imports by 21 percent to 350 million tons, Daily Economy News quoted Zhou Jian, chairman of China Iron & Steel Association (CISA), as saying. According to media reports, iron ore stocks at Chinese ports stood at 70 million tons in March, far higher than the usual 30 million-ton level, mainly due to faltering steel demand amid the global economic recession.
Zhou predicted that the country's iron ore output will rise marginally to reach 860-880 million tons this year and iron ore products supply could increase about 20 million tons over the previous year.
CISA data showed that China's iron ore imports amounted to 131.52 million tons in the first quarter, up 20.86 million tons or 18.85 percent year on year, including 52.08 million tons in March alone, hitting the monthly high, up 16.39 million tons or 45.96 percent over the year earlier period.
The country's pig iron output increased 5.03 million tons year on year in the first quarter, subsequently raising iron ore consumption by 7.96 million tons. However, the same period saw iron ore import outgrow iron ore consumption by 12.90 million tons, leading to glut of iron ore on the domestic market.
The average CIF price of iron ore to China reached 80 U.S. dollars/ton in the first quarter, down 38.75 percent from the same period last year. The import price presents a downward trend for clearly oversupplied international market.
The first quarter saw domestic iron ore output inch up 2.6 percent year on year to 167 million tons.
Source: China Mining
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