China’s iron ore imports deemed excessive

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Beijing: According to China's Iron and Steel Association, the country's steel output is seriously oversupplied and imports of iron ore show excessive growth. They think the situation is creating massive risks for the industry. The official Chinese website, Xinhua.com, published an editorial questioning whether the country needs that much steel.
Rizhao and Tianjin Ports are major entry points for much of the country's iron ore import. Both ports are busy unloading the raw material, but this seems to go against the current situation in the country's steel industry.
Zhang Lin, the analyst of Lange Steel Information Research Center said, "April saw a record high of China's iron ore imports. It reached 57 million tons. We can tell from this charter that imports have grown significantly since the beginning of this year."
Luo Bingsheng, the deputy director of China Iron and Steel Association said, "In my opinion this is abnormal. The import amount greatly surpasses the needs of China's steel industry. The normal stock amount is 30 million tons."
Despite the blind importation of iron ore, the import for crude steel is also surging. By the end of March, China became a net importer of steel for the first time. More seriously, some small and medium-sized steel enterprises have resumed production to help meet the country's target of 8 percent GDP growth. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology recently issued a notice calling to restrict the country's steel production. [18/05/09]