Iron ore demand sluggish in China

摘要

Iron ore trade is still very slow in China. Steelmakers hold off, with their stocks sufficient for short-term needs. Although they will need to fill their reserves before winter, there is no point for them to stock up now because prices are expected to dip further. On top of that, the Chinese government has speeded up the program for cutting the steelmaking capacity, which may result in lower iron ore requirement. Market insiders note that it is hard to estimate the cutback in pig iron and crude steel production in China, but it will most probably be insignificant.