Iron ore prices will be negotiated next month
The steel industry anxiously awaits next month's negotiations over the 2006
iron ore prices.
Whether mining giants like
Australia's
BHP Billiton and
Rio Tinto and
Brazil's CVRD will increase the
iron ore prices or not depends on the condition of spot market, said one industry insider. The current
iron ore price in the spot market is higher than that of the contract market.
However, steelmakers in
China, the Americas,
Europe and
Japan think that the supply and demand situation for
iron ore in 2006 will bring prices down to a reasonable level. The extremely high
iron ore price is not helpful to the development of Chinese iron and steel industry. It cannot be understated that the world iron and steel industry will feel the repercussions if the Chinese market makes losses.
Qi Xiangdong, deputy secretary general of CISA, indicated that the seminar held earlier this week in Qingdao paved the way for the future development of the 2006
iron ore price trend. He disclosed that CISA is now discussing with Chinese steelmakers about how they intend to participate in the negotiations this year. Last year,
Baosteel acted as a representative for the entire industry, but there is talk that this year CISA may organize a delegation. Qi added that the work team, established by CISA to solve issues related to imported
iron ore, will play its part in the upcoming
iron ore price negotiations.
SteelOrbis Shanghai