At a recent meeting, the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) has stated that price manipulation has worsened in the iron ore market.
CISA said that China is the world's largest iron ore importer, taking 75 percent of the world's total iron ore seaborne trade. It added that, with the three mining giants - Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Vale - dominating the market, they have been pushing iron ore prices up for years. The CISA said that Chinese steel enterprises have suffered from the iron ore price hikes as their profit margins have kept decreasing, though it added that import iron ore prices are expect to decline after March or April this year.
Wu Xinchun, deputy secretary general of the CISA, said that price manipulation is a given in the industry. China's iron ore imports have continued to increase since last September, whereas its domestic output of pig iron remained low, he said.
The CISA said it expects that in 2011 China is expected to produce 660 million mt of crude steel, while demand for iron ore is expected to reach 982 million mt, of which 405 million mt will be supplied domestically, with 577 million mt expected to be imported.