1. Text: | Print|

      Eyes on China as steel needs ease

      2014-05-29 10:46 China Daily Web Editor: Qin Dexing
      1

      People acknowledge China's commodities demand - fueled by a boom in the last decade - is easing.

      This slowdown is hitting iron ore markets. Platts estimates consumption of steel grew 2.6 percent in the first two months of this year, compared with 9.8 percent a year earlier.

      This trend is expected to continue through 2014 as weaker manufacturing activity, oversupply of housing and tighter credit constrains demand for steel; and ultimately the iron ore from which it is made.

      Seaborne iron ore supply is expected to grow. Projects, especially in Australia, committed to in the boom years, are coming online.

      Growth in supply is expected to outpace growth in demand. So prices of imported iron ore have fallen.

      As of March 28, the Platts IODEX was $113 per dry metric ton, down $24 from the same date last year. Average prices in the first three months of the year are down 18 percent on 2013.

      Among noteworthy trends of recent months has been a determination by the new Chinese leadership to seriously tackle pollution by steel mills.

      With mills under pressure to reduce emissions of sulfur and other matter harmful to the environment, they demand high-grade iron ore with fewer impurities.

      This is a problem for companies mining ore with lower iron content. They have been forced to discount. It bodes well for producers of high - grade and lump ore which can be fed directly into the blast furnace without sintering. Sintering is a process of forming a solid mass of material by heat and/or pressure without melting it.

      Iron ore markets have become increasingly transparent. Buyers and sellers can access indices and assessments of prices based on physical markets. They can get price information from derivatives markets which have exploded over the last year.

       The author Sebastian Lewis is editorial director of Platts China.

      Comments (0)
      Most popular in 24h
        Archived Content
      Media partners:

      Copyright ©1999-2018 Chinanews.com. All rights reserved.
      Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.

      主站蜘蛛池模板: 亚洲最大的成人网站| 亚洲激情中文字幕| 亚洲人成在线免费观看| 亚洲人成网7777777国产| 亚洲日韩国产精品无码av| 嫩草成人永久免费观看| 亚洲av色福利天堂| 蜜臀亚洲AV无码精品国产午夜.| 久久国产精品免费| 30岁的女人韩剧免费观看| 免费观看午夜在线欧差毛片| 亚洲资源在线观看| 久久精品国产亚洲av瑜伽| 日本一线a视频免费观看| 羞羞视频在线观看免费| 不卡一卡二卡三亚洲| 国偷自产一区二区免费视频| 好爽好紧好大的免费视频国产| 激情无码亚洲一区二区三区| 亚洲人妻av伦理| 免费视频精品一区二区三区| 亚洲制服丝袜在线播放| 性xxxx视频播放免费| 久久亚洲AV无码精品色午夜麻豆 | 色五月五月丁香亚洲综合网| 日韩免费一区二区三区| 又大又硬又粗又黄的视频免费看| 亚洲日产韩国一二三四区| 精品免费人成视频app| 日韩欧美亚洲中文乱码| 国产免费女女脚奴视频网| 亚洲AV无码一区二区二三区软件| 黄色毛片免费观看| 亚洲AV无码一区二区乱子伦 | 亚洲免费人成视频观看| 国产美女精品视频免费观看| a色毛片免费视频| 久久国产亚洲精品麻豆| 性短视频在线观看免费不卡流畅 | 香蕉高清免费永久在线视频| 特级毛片全部免费播放a一级|