Posted on 15 Jul 2010
With a drop in steel prices, prices of imported iron ore also plunged. Yesterday, the prices of 63.5 percent Indian fine ore fell below 130 U.S. dollars per ton for the first time this year.
Compared to the peak in mid-April, when iron ore prices reached almost 200 U.S. dollars per ton, current iron ore prices have contracted around 30 percent.
In addition, according to a report by the Beijing News, iron ore stocks in
However, steel producers failed to gain from falling iron ore prices because prices of steel products drop faster than iron ore and large steel producers have to adhere to pricing agreements reached with iron ore suppliers, rather than head for the spot market.
Industrial insiders predicted that the steel industry will witness negative profits in the third quarter.
Statistics from the Lange Steel Information Network showed that from mid-April to July, the average price of steel products dropped by around 15 percent.
