The Tiger and the Dragon II: Miners Try to Take Advantage of China’s Slowdown

According to a report, crude-steel output in China dropped 1.3% to 270.07 million metric tons in the first four months of 2015 as compared to the same period in 2014. The World Steel Association has forecast that China will end up using far less steel this year and maybe even the next. Which means more supply and far less demand due to China’s slowdown.

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The report quoted Alan Chirgwin, BHP Billiton iron ore marketing vice president, as saying steel supply was expected to rise by about 110 million metric tons this year, exceeding demand growth by around 40  mmt.

Yet this has not fazed Rio Tinto Group, for example, which recently announced it would continue with its plan to produce iron ore at full capacity despite the fall in prices. While BHP and Brazil’s Vale SA have, for now, stepped on the brakes vis-à-vis their medium-term plans, team Rio, on the other hand, thinks reducing production costs will help it hang on to its lead…and profits.

Betting on a Comeback

Rio Tinto sees China coming back with renewed vigor and driving global iron ore demand through 2030.

Where does that leave India? So far as iron ore or even steel consumption is concerned, China is miles ahead of India, even in the fatigued condition it finds itself today. India, as reported by MetalMiner, drew a blank for about two years due to a court-imposed ban on ore mining, which left its steel companies at the mercy of imports, something that they continue to rely on even today.

That had also affected its iron ore exports, especially from the ore-rich provinces of Goa and Odisha. India’s iron ore imports went up dramatically to a record 6.76 million tons in the first 7 months of the 2014-15 fiscal year. Once, the country was the third-largest supplier of iron ore to the world, but, because of the export duty and a national mining ban, it had turned into an importer.

Analysts predict India was likely to remain a net importer of iron ore in 2015-16 as well, no thanks to the continued drop in falling international rates. The only silver lining, claimed analysts, could be that due to the resumption in the domestic production of iron ore, the quantity of imports may not be as high as the last fiscal year.

Captive Market

India’s steel companies do not have captive mines, so they have to get their average 95 mmt a year of iron ore from elsewhere. With international price of ore hovering today at about $50 per mt for high-grade ore, it is too attractive a deal for Indian steel mills to be passed on. As reference points, last year, iron ore imports happened when rates had touched $90 per mt.

In all this, Australia, a country that sells about 80% of its ore to China, sits in a happy position. While it hopes that the recent cuts in interest rates will revive the Chinese economy, and thus its demand for iron ore and coking coke, it is also looking increasingly to India to pick up its stock. Last year, for example, as reported by MetalMiner Australia had approved Adani Group’s approximate $15.5-billion (AUS $16.5 billion) Carmichael coal project in Queensland that could yield up to 60 million mt of coal per year. That was just the beginning. For the Aussies, if the dragon’s appetite for iron ore and coking coal is satiated, the hungry tiger is always lurking in the background.

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The author, Sohrab Darabshaw, contributes an Indian perspective on industrial metals markets to MetalMiner.