CONF: China's iron ore supply-demand to loosen in '24
Global iron ore shipments to China will grow by 38 million tonnes from last year to top 1.52 billion tonnes in 2024, Zhang told delegates attending the 18th International Iron Ore Market Seminar in Qingdao in East China's Shandong on March 14.
Zhang Songbo, deputy director of CMRG
Among the global iron ore suppliers despatching additional tonnage to China this year, Australia is expected to be the largest contributor to the increase in supply, with an anticipated addition of 12 million tonnes in shipments to China, Zhang observed.
India and Ukraine are also poised to boost their China-bound ore deliveries by 6 million tonnes each compared with the previous year, he noted.
In fact, Indian iron ore exports to China have recorded notable rises after India's Ministry of Finance scrapped the previously high export duties on low-grade iron ore and iron ore pellets last November, as reported.
Additionally, New Delhi seems set to keep current export taxes largely unchanged throughout 2024 without any increases, to ensure that India continues earning a certain amount of foreign exchange from the trade, an official from an Indian iron ore miner attending the conference told Mysteel Global.
On the demand side, Zhang predicted that iron ore demand in China this year will decline by 12.8 million tonnes compared with 2023, reflecting lower production of pig iron which is expected to fall by 8 million tonnes on year.
In 2024, China's total consumption of crude steel will remain stable on year, while the country's efforts to promote equipment upgrades will see supplies of ferrous scrap rise by 10 million tonnes from last year, Zhang said to explain the decline in pig iron output.
Nevertheless, iron ore demand from India and ASEAN countries is expected to show year-on-year growth of 13.7 million tonnes and 14.4 million tonnes respectively, according to Zhang.
State-owned CMRG, headquartered in the Xiongan New Area in North China's Hebei province, was established by the central government in July 2022 to help guarantee the supply of important mineral resources by making use of domestic and international markets and resources crucial for the security of Chinese industry, especially steel, as Mysteel Global reported.
Written by Lea Li, liye@mysteel.com
Edited by Russ McCulloch, russ.mcculloch@mysteel.com
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