Brazilian mining giant Vale's global marketing director Pedro Gutemberg has stated that Japan's iron ore demand before the earthquake in March had roughly reached 90 percent of the volume before the economic crisis. He went on to predict that Japan's iron ore demand in the fourth quarter will again recover to 90 percent of the volume before the economic crisis.
According to Mr. Gutemberg, iron ore demand in Europe will bounce back to 85 percent of the volume before the economic crisis, while iron ore demand worldwide is picking up. China's demand for iron ore is strong, he said, adding that he was not concerned about the influence of China's tightening monetary policy on its iron ore demand.
Mr. Gutemberg remarked that Vale exported 260 million mt of iron ore in 2010, of which 130 million mt went to China.