Brazilian iron ore producer Vale said this week it expects to sell 300 million mt of iron ore to China by 2019, according to a media report.
By doing so, Vale should increase the exports of the commodity to the Asian country by 66.6 percent, from 180 million in 2016, a company’s executive told Chinese media.
Local media said Vale’s CEO, Murilo Ferreira, is “confident” China will continue growing, as he expects an increase in demand for both steel and iron ore in the Asian country.
In September this year, Vale said the peak of steel consumption in China is yet to be reached.
“China’s steel consumption peak still has a way to go, but of course the growth will be much more gradual,” Claudio Alves, the company’s global marketing and sales director for ferrous, said at that time at an industry event in Qingdao.
Vale’s comments and expectations for China oppose the idea that steel consumption peak in China was already reached. The Australia New Zealand Banking Group said recently that such a peak was reached in 2014, while Credit Suisse expects Chinese consumption of the product to fall 10 percent by 2018.
A media report noted Vale expects to increase the number of Valemaxes docking at Chinese ports to at least 64, depending on the Chinese demand.
In Q3, China accounted for 38.6 percent of Vale’s gross revenues, up from 30.3 percent a year ago.