| | Indian miners at risk of losing China market |
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CreateTime:2008-05-01 Editor:liaoyan
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INDIAN iron ore miners are risking losing their Chinese market because of sharp price rises, said Luo Bingsheng, deputy director of the China Iron and Steel Association.
Iron ore imports from India rose 6.14 percent, or 4.59 million tonnes, to 79.37 million tonnes in 2007 versus the previous year, but the increase was 11.26 percentage points lower than the total import growth of 17.4 percent, or 56.79 million tonnes, Luo said at the China-India Iron Ore Summit on Monday.
China's iron and steel industry has taken action to import more iron ore from countries other than India.
Imports from India rose 3.4 percent in February, much lower than the 10 percent and 8.3 percent growth of iron ore import from Brazil and Australia, respectively, CISA statistics show.
"The unreasonable high cost insurance freight has already dragged India behind in its competition with Brazil in China," said Luo.
The average CIF of Indian iron ore exported to China reached US$157.96 per tonne last December, a US$34.72, or 22 percent, higher than the Brazilian price, resulting in what Luo called "twisted" price relations.
India beats all the other foreign iron ore providers in the Chinese market with a 135.37 percent growth in its average CIF last December, and its annual average CIF in 2007 soared 53.07 percent, or US$34.25 per tonne year on year, to US$98.79 per tonne, also ranking first in the price growth list.
Luo attributed the surge in CIF to the price hikes in ocean freight. Shipping costs from India to China rose US$25.81 per tonne in the first 11 months of 2007 against 2006, taking up 94.7 percent of the total CIF growth.
But with the average free on board in 2007 rising by merely 3.24 percent, India was not the biggest beneficiary of the soaring iron ore price.
Meanwhile, the US$10.57 per ton growth in the average CIF cost Chinese steel makers a combined US$839 million for Indian iron ore in 2007.
The iron ore trade between China and India is short-term deals arranged via traders.
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