China's iron ore imports from Australia rose 31.6% to 548.4-million tonnes last year, customs data showed on Friday, as soaring production by big miners drove down prices and eliminated some smaller suppliers.
Giant miners such as Rio , BHP Billiton and Brazil's Vale have been ramping up iron ore output, and the glut is likely to get even bigger as a cooling economy in top consumer China hits demand.
China imported a record high 932.5-million tonnes of the steelmaking raw material last year, up 13.8% annually, as lower-cost shipments from the mega miners flooded the market and forced some higher-cost mines to shut down.
Based on this, shipments from Australia accounted for 58.8% of the total, versus 50.9% in 2013. Iron ore imports from Brazil, the second-largest supplier to China, climbed 10.3% on year to 170.96-million tonnes last year, data showed.
However, imports from Indonesia and Philippines fell more than 70% in 2014 from a year ago, while that from Russia and Venezuela both slid more than 40%.
Overseas iron ore purchases from Canada dropped 23% and that from Malaysia fell 18 percent.
The expansion by global miners has not only squeezed smaller suppliers out of market, but also dealt a big blow to Chinese domestic miners, many of which operate at costs more than double that of Australian miners.
China's iron ore output rose 3.9% to 1.5-billion tonnes in 2014, versus a 9.9% growth in 2013.
The price of 62% grade iron ore for immediate delivery to China's Tianjin port fell 47% last year. The benchmark sank to $65.60 a tonne in December, the lowest since June 2009, according to the Steel Index.
Citi has cut its 2015 price forecast for iron ore to $58 per tonne from $65.
Source: Reuters |
