Iron Ore market in china
China’s laterite ore imports from Indonesia stood at 10.93 million tonnes for the first nine months of 2018, up by 8.66 million tonnes from the corresponding period in 2017.
Meanwhile imports from the Philippines totaled 22.22 million tonnes over the first nine months of 2018, largely stable with the same period a year earlier, according to brokerage Jinrui Futures.
Yet rising inventories of laterite ore at Chinese ports and looser mining restrictions in the Philippines – one of China’s main sources of laterite ore, the other being Indonesia – are set to provide China’s NPI industry with an abundance of the raw material this year.
Market participants were similarly optimistic over a steady supply of laterite ore in the Chinese market for this year.
At the same time, large steel mills in China have not released any plans for new stainless steel capacity.
“We expect to see steady ore supply this year; the Indonesian ore export quotas guarantee sufficient supply despite the intermittent withdrawal of several companies’ quotas due to renewal issues,” a laterite ore trader in east China told Fastmarkets.
Market participants have also said that 304D, initially intended to replace some 304 stainless steel products, has faced difficulty during the ongoing promotion due to mixed market acceptance and quality feedback, thus likely capping any impact on demand for nickel.
“The Philippine government earlier lifted the ban on laterite ore mines which had been suspended to the violation of environmental regulations, so the laterite ore supply for 2019 should in general be sufficient,” Citic Futures added.
Stainless crude steel capacity is unlikely to increase in 2019 because China is strictly prohibiting the construction of any new crude steel capacity.
STAINLESS STEEL SUPPLY/DEMAND TO EXPERIENCE NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES The supply-demand picture for stainless steel in China is not expected to experience any major changes in 2019 compared with last year, according to market participants.
