The price of wire rope has been rising recently. The main reason is that the price of iron ore, one of the raw materials, has been soaring.
Since November, the price of imported iron ore has increased significantly, which is related to the winter storage of raw materials in domestic steel mills. In the face of strong demand and winter storage effect, iron and steel enterprises have increased their efforts to import iron ore. However, at this moment, iron ore, the main import raw material, is facing a tense situation. According to Mysteel statistics, in November, the average weekly iron ore shipment volume of Australia and Brazil was 22.109 million tons, down 7.89% month on month and 3.82% year-on-year. Moreover, the recent shipping volume of the two countries fluctuated greatly, leading to the decline of the stability of foreign ore supply.
In addition, according to customs statistics, China's iron ore import volume in November was 98.15 million tons, down 8.1% month on month, which is the first time since June this year that the monthly import volume has dropped below 100 million tons. In terms of port inventory, according to Mysteel data, as of December 11, the total iron ore inventory of 45 ports in China was 122.032 million tons, which has been declining for six consecutive weeks.
In the case of huge changes in the balance of supply and demand, iron ore prices rose. According to the latest data, as of December 11, the price index of 62% iron ore reached 160.70 US dollars / ton, an increase of more than 70% over the beginning of the year, reaching a 9-year high. Since the end of November, the index has risen more than 20%. In the futures market, on December 11, the main iron ore futures contract 2105 of Taishang exchange stood at a high of 1000 yuan / ton.
In the afternoon of December 10, at the iron ore Market Forum organized by China Iron and Steel Association, domestic iron and steel enterprises were unanimously agreed that the current price rise of iron ore has deviated from the supply and demand fundamentals, greatly exceeding the expectations of steel mills, and there are obvious signs of capital speculation. At present, the pricing mechanism of iron ore market has been out of order, calling on the state to take effective measures and intervene in the investigation in time.
Suggestions and Countermeasures
In the future for a long period of time, China's high dependence on imported minerals is difficult to change. In the face of continuous large domestic demand, but the spot index pricing mechanism fails, many industry insiders suggest that we should strengthen the demand side reform of the steel industry, appropriately control the production rhythm, increase the utilization of scrap steel, and make good use of derivative tools for risk management, so as to effectively reduce the steel industry's demand side reform Low production cost, provide industry competitiveness.