Boston, US-based Wood Mackenzie, a company which provides commercial analysis and strategic advisory services focusing on the energy and metals industries, has predicted that shortages of iron ore supplies will continue until 2015, leading iron ore prices to hit record highs.
According to Wood Mackenzie, China's demand will cause the iron ore trade volume to increase, and this will be the core reason for the supply shortage and the increase in prices. In 2011, strong demand has stimulated Chinese domestic iron ore production, but the quality of domestic ore is not high. In addition, in spite of a considerable number of new iron ore projects, international iron ore exporters have been unable to catch up with the increase in demand, Wood Mackenzie said.