Mining’s old guard needs strong medicine
A new report details subpar investor returns in the mining industry over the last decade, particularly big cap diversified companies which have not adapted to new realities.
Russian mining group Severstal plans to boost production of coking coal and expects iron ore mines in Liberia and Brazil to come online by 2017, the company said Thursday in a presentation to investors in London.
CEO Vadim Larin predicted the price of both materials used in steelmaking will remain high and forecasts limited supply growth as current market turmoil delays new projects, Platts reported:
Severstal expects coking coal prices to “remain firm on the back of a fundamental deficit of hard coking coal.” Larin suggested that any correction to high iron ore prices, which Platts is currently assessing at about $170/dmt CFR China for 62%-Fe fines, may be limited to $10-20/mt.
MINING.com reported yesterday that the demand side of the equation for iron ore remains strong, with the world’s largest iron ore miners saying they have seen no weakness in demand from China. Forecasts for China’s imports by 2015 now top 1 billion tonnes – up more than 60% from 2010 – due to the relatively high cost and the low quality of its domestic supplies.
Firm demand from China’s construction sector and a drop off in India’s exports have been behind the strength in spot iron ore prices which, at above $170 a tonne, have trebled from late 2008. The big three – BHP, Vale and Rio Tinto – control nearly 70% of the annual iron ore seaborne trade and dominate price talks.
