No recent iron ore shipment to China cancelled - Mr Marcus Randolph

Saturday, 15 Oct 2011

Reuters quoted Mr Marcus Randolph CEO of Ferrous and Coal of BHP said global miner BHP Billiton has not had any iron ore shipment to China cancelled or renegotiated in the last few weeks.

He said that "We haven't had any shipment to China cancelled or renegotiated."

Traders said concern had risen in markets that Chinese steel mills were seeking to postpone shipments or renegotiate fourth quarter iron ore contracts as spot prices fell to their lowest since November 2010.

Global steel prices and production have weakened amid growing uncertainty about economic growth and financial markets in the second half.

Rival global mining group Rio Tinto reported on Thursday record iron ore sales for its third quarter, saying demand was holding up.

Mr Randolph said the iron ore sector was marked by insufficient supply, with BHP Billiton producing "as fast as we can", but that a pipeline of mining projects delayed by the 2008 financial crisis should outpace demand growth this decade.

He said that "We're expecting to see slower growth in iron ore as Chinese growth starts to tail off, adding his personal view was that Chinese steel use could overshoot its current growth trend before falling back and hitting iron ore and steel prices in coming years.”

He also said "If all of the projects come online and there are USD 430 billion of projects we will exceed the requirements of the steel industry in our forecast."

(Sourced from Reuters)

Port Hedland iron ore shipments tumble in seasonal drop

Thu Mar 10, 2011 4:22am GMT

* Chinese New Year probably biggest factor in drop

* Cyclone, shorter month also weighed

SYDNEY, March 10 (Reuters) - Iron ore shipments from Australia's Port Hedland, one of the world's largest export terminals, fell 16 percent in February, but the drop was mostly due to seasonal and weather-related factors, and analysts expect a rebound in March.

Iron ore shipments dropped to 12.85 million tonnes in February from 15.33 million in January and 17.33 million in December, the port said on Thursday, but analysts suggested the chief culprit was a holiday in China, the biggest destination of the port's shipments.

"It's all seasonal with the Chinese New Year when you've got a week or so with not too many (customers) to trade with," said Tom Price, a commodity analyst with UBS.

"A better signal is the spot price, which was quite strong, indicating solid demand."

Officials at Port Hedland, which is used by BHP Billiton and Fortescue Metals and shipped more than 180 million tonnes of iron ore in 2010, pointed out that the port was closed for several days in February due to tropical cyclone Carlos and that the unadjusted figures also do not reflect the shorter month.

Iron ore shipments a year earlier dropped around 2 million tonnes in February, but made up nearly all of the loss in the following month.

February exports from Port Hedland to China fell to 9.03 million tonnes from 9.97 million in January while exports to Japan nearly halved to 1.47 million from 2.82 million.

China's iron ore imports in February reached 48.64 million tonnes, down 29.5 percent from a January record, with trade disrupted by the Lunar New Year, China's customs agency said in a statement on Thursday.(Reporting by Balazs Koranyi Editing : Himani Sarkar, sourced Reuters)

Tags : China's iron ore imports in February, steelmaking