Tue Oct 11, 2011
* Albanese says sees continued robust business conditions in China
* Says does not comment on media speculation on China bid on Kalahari
* Says comfortable with quarterly pricing with Korean steelmakers
SEOUL, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Rio Tinto's chief executive said on Tuesday he did not foresee a significant change in China's demand for iron ore despite investor concerns about slowing steel demand in the country and weak developed economies.
Index-based spot prices slid to more than six-month troughs on Monday, after dropping about 5 percent in September, spurred by signs of slowing Chinese steel demand and uncertainty about the fate of the global economy.
China is the world's biggest buyer of iron ore -- a key steelmaking material.
"We continue to see robust business conditions for Rio Tinto products into China, particularly in iron ore. We would not foresee real significant changes in that demand profile in the next few months," CEO Tom Albanese told reporters on the sidelines of the World Knowledge Forum in Seoul.
He declined to comment on media reports that a top Chinese nuclear power generator is back in talks to buy Kalahari Minerals , in which Rio holds about an 11 percent stake. Rio also owns 14 percent of Kalahari's major asset, Extract Resources .
"We do not respond to media speculation," he said.
Kalahari confirmed on Monday that discussions had restarted with state-owned China Guangdong Nuclear Power Corp (CGNPC), after a deal earlier this year fell through in the aftermath of the Fukushima disaster in Japan. It gave no detail on price.
Albanese also said he is "comfortable with" the current quarterly iron ore pricing with South Korean steelmakers.
Global mining giants Vale , Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton last year scrapped a 40-year-old system of pricing iron ore contracts annually in favour of an index-based quarterly pricing mechanism to capture sharp swings in spot prices.
BHP said in August it was linking the majority of its sales to monthly average spot prices but continued to negotiate long-term contracts for supply volumes.
Asked about any progress in talks with Extract Resources to combine development of Husab with Rio's Rossing uranium mine, Albanese said: "Our main focus would be readying the Rossing mine for the long future ahead".
(sourced Reuters)
Showing posts with label Chinese iron ore demand at high levels. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chinese iron ore demand at high levels. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Mining giants eye China's west for future growth
Thu Mar 24, 2011 7:40am GMT
March 24 (Reuters) - The world's biggest iron ore producers are looking to China's undeveloped western regions for future growth as steel output on the country's thriving eastern coast nears its peak.
Speaking at a Metal Bulletin conference in Beijing, mining executives said the industrialisation and urbanisation of western regions like Xinjiang will need soaring volumes of steel and keep Chinese demand for imported ore at high levels.
"Global iron ore demand for the foreseeable future is strongly driven by China," said Sam Walsh, iron ore director with Rio Tinto , the world's second-biggest iron ore producer.
"Steel use in high-intensity export-dominated cities like Shanghai, Tianjin and Beijing is already at the high levels of developed markets like South Korea, but what is truly remarkable is what is yet to come -- inland provinces are just beginning to climb the steel intensity curve," Walsh said.
Government efforts to redress the west-east income gap through intensive infrastructure construction will drive demand, he said, adding that per capita steel consumption in western and central regions was still not even half that of coastal regions.
Luiz Meriz, China president of Brazil's Vale , the world's top iron ore producer, said on Tuesday that rumours of a slowdown in Chinese iron ore demand over the next few years were greatly exaggerated.
"Steel intensity (the amount produced per unit of GDP) varies per region and it is still very low in western China, though it might have peaked in east coastal regions," he said.
He said steel output in the east could peak by 2015, but growth in central and western regions would continue, adding that China's current 46 percent urbanisation rate was expected to grow 1 percent every year until it reaches 70 percent.
Annual seaborne iron ore trade has more than doubled in the last 10 years to around 1 billion tonnes, driven primarily by demand from China's steel industry, by far the world's biggest.
The surge has prompted global mining giants to expand capacity, with Vale aiming to raise output to 522 million tonnes by 2015, up from 311 million tonnes last year and Rio planning an increase of more than 100 million tonnes by investing big in its Pilbara property and its Simandou project in Guinea.
Official figures show that China imported 618.6 million tonnes of iron ore in 2010, down 1.43 percent from the 2009 record, and the industry predicts a 6 percent increase in imports this year.
However, steel industry consultants MEPS said in a research report this week that Chinese demand is being underestimated to the tune of 118 million tonnes over the next two years.
MEPS said analysts have been misled by China's official steel output figures, which could have been under-reported by as much as 47 million tonnes last year as mills tried to evade tough energy restrictions. (sourced:Reuters)
March 24 (Reuters) - The world's biggest iron ore producers are looking to China's undeveloped western regions for future growth as steel output on the country's thriving eastern coast nears its peak.
Speaking at a Metal Bulletin conference in Beijing, mining executives said the industrialisation and urbanisation of western regions like Xinjiang will need soaring volumes of steel and keep Chinese demand for imported ore at high levels.
"Global iron ore demand for the foreseeable future is strongly driven by China," said Sam Walsh, iron ore director with Rio Tinto , the world's second-biggest iron ore producer.
"Steel use in high-intensity export-dominated cities like Shanghai, Tianjin and Beijing is already at the high levels of developed markets like South Korea, but what is truly remarkable is what is yet to come -- inland provinces are just beginning to climb the steel intensity curve," Walsh said.
Government efforts to redress the west-east income gap through intensive infrastructure construction will drive demand, he said, adding that per capita steel consumption in western and central regions was still not even half that of coastal regions.
Luiz Meriz, China president of Brazil's Vale , the world's top iron ore producer, said on Tuesday that rumours of a slowdown in Chinese iron ore demand over the next few years were greatly exaggerated.
"Steel intensity (the amount produced per unit of GDP) varies per region and it is still very low in western China, though it might have peaked in east coastal regions," he said.
He said steel output in the east could peak by 2015, but growth in central and western regions would continue, adding that China's current 46 percent urbanisation rate was expected to grow 1 percent every year until it reaches 70 percent.
Annual seaborne iron ore trade has more than doubled in the last 10 years to around 1 billion tonnes, driven primarily by demand from China's steel industry, by far the world's biggest.
The surge has prompted global mining giants to expand capacity, with Vale aiming to raise output to 522 million tonnes by 2015, up from 311 million tonnes last year and Rio planning an increase of more than 100 million tonnes by investing big in its Pilbara property and its Simandou project in Guinea.
Official figures show that China imported 618.6 million tonnes of iron ore in 2010, down 1.43 percent from the 2009 record, and the industry predicts a 6 percent increase in imports this year.
However, steel industry consultants MEPS said in a research report this week that Chinese demand is being underestimated to the tune of 118 million tonnes over the next two years.
MEPS said analysts have been misled by China's official steel output figures, which could have been under-reported by as much as 47 million tonnes last year as mills tried to evade tough energy restrictions. (sourced:Reuters)
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