Wang Min, deputy minister of China's Ministry of Land and Resources, has said at the China international Mining Conference held on November 16, that the international prices of mineral products are expected to continue to fluctuate at a high level in the coming period, due to the strong demand for bulk mineral commodities, plentiful liquidity in capital markets and scarcity of resources.
Wang Min has estimated that the global steel demand in 2010 is expected to increase by over ten percent, while the demand for copper, aluminum and nickel is likely to grow by nine percent, 10-12 percent and seven percent respectively, all providing strong support for the mineral product market.
Year-to-date, the mineral products prices in the international market have followed the upward trend as in the previous year, and continued to move up in general. In the given period, the prices of crude oil dropped significantly, and are currently fluctuating around $70-90 per barrel. On the other hand, the prices of coal and precious metals, like gold, silver and etc, have moved up, among which gold prices exceeded $1400/ounce. As for iron ore, its prices continued to move up during this period.