The rising cost of iron ore imports will put pressure on domestic iron ore prices which could hurt Chinese steel mills, the China Iron and Steel Association CISA said during a media briefing on Tuesday.
Luo Bingsheng, vice-chairman of CISA, said the association has received government support to raise the threshold for qualifying ore importers and to cut imports this year. CISA blamed small and medium-sized steelmakers and importers for keeping spot ore prices high, putting the association in a difficult position as it sought price cuts for term supplies during last year’s failed benchmark discussions.
Talks to set a 2010 price benchmark are ongoing, but whereas CISA said in December that it expects a rise of 20-30 per cent, the large iron ore miners have reportedly asked Japanese and Korean steel mills for a 40 per cent price rise.
Last year China imported 628 million tonnes of iron ore.
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