Iron ore paper and physical markets are dancing on the spot at the moment:
In news, a bullish forecast from China is of interest:
China’s iron ore imports are expected to rise 6.3 percent to a record of 850 million tonnes next year as steel output and consumption of the world’s top consumer also push to new highs, an industry group said on Friday.
Steel demand in China, the world’s largest producer and consumer, is expected to grow modestly next year as steel-consuming sectors except for shipbuilding improve from 2013, the institute said.
It forecast China’s steel output to increase 3.8 percent to a fresh record of 810 million tonnes from an estimated previous record of 780 million tonnes for this year. Steel consumption will rise 3.2 percent to a new high of 715 million tonnes from 693 million tonnes, it said.
“The economy both at home and abroad is improving next year, but a significant recovery will be unlikely,” China Metallurgical Industry Planning and Research Institute, an industry group that provides consultancy for government policies, said in a statement.
China imported a total of 668.3 million tonnes of iron ore during the first ten months of this year, up 10 percent from a year earlier, due to strong steel production, government data showed. Iron ore imports are forecast to hit 800 tonnes for the full year.
Steel output rose 8 percent to 652.5 million tonnes for January-October from a year earlier.
Though Beijing has vowed to rein in the property sector to cool housing prices and shift away from heavy investment-driven economic growth, steel demand from construction including commercial housing, social housing and infrastructure is still expected to grow 2.4 percent on year to reach 390 million tonnes in 2014.
China is expected to roll out a series of reform plans to maintain steady economic growth and strengthen investment in infrastructure construction in less-developed western areas, the institute said.
This all makes sense enough but it’s not “reform”.
