Officials of the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) have stated that the general view among its member enterprises is that import iron ore prices in China will soften further in the current year and will range between $100/mt and $110/mt. The CISA officials were speaking at a conference held in Beijing on March 18 under the aegis of China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).
The general view expressed at the conference was that the steel overcapacity situation in China is difficult to reverse, while the domestic steel industry also faces pressures from costs, liquidity and environmental protection efforts. The CISA also stated that in January its member companies recorded aggregate losses of about RMB 1 billion, while their overall losses in February amounted to about RMB 1.8-2.0 billion, resulting in total losses of close to RMB 3 billion for the first two months.