News

On the occasion of the resumption of work during the Spring Festival, the market expects that Chinese steel mills will gradually adjust inventories and increase production; affected by this, the spot price of iron ore on Thursday (February 18) soared by US$8.17 to US$175.05 per ton (approximately RMB 1,136). Yuan), an increase of 4.9%.

At the same time, the Dalian Commodity Exchange showed that the May iron ore futures price soared 7.1% to US$175.22 per ton, a new high since December 22 last year; the March contract price of iron ore on the Singapore market also rose 1.5% to a ton. USD 169.40

Iron ore is a commodity with strong import demand in my country. Data shows that in 2020, my country has imported 1.17 billion tons of iron ore, a year-on-year increase of 9.5%. However, in recent years, my country is also actively seeking ways to reduce its dependence on imported iron ore.

The China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) recently confirmed that my country imported 3,000 tons of scrap metal from Japan at the end of January 2021. This is also the first import of scrap metal since my country banned the import of scrap metal two years ago. Analysts said that China's lifting of the ban on scrap metal imports and the use of its steel making will help reduce its dependence on Australian iron ore.

This is obviously bad news for Australian suppliers. According to reports, thanks to China's strong demand for Australian iron ore and the soaring iron ore prices, the annual export profits of Australia's three major iron ore producers (BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and FMG) have all hit record highs in many years.

Currently, Australia has also set a new export target-according to relevant reports released by Australia, it is estimated that the country’s 21/22 iron ore export volume will increase to 906 million tons, and iron ore export revenue is also expected to increase to 1,230 Billion US dollars (approximately 798 billion yuan). However, under China's relevant actions, whether Australia can achieve this goal as scheduled is still facing certain challenges.