BHP Expects Iron Ore Price to Continue to Flatten, But Sees Positive Signs From China

Mining Weekly reported that iron ore giant BHP Billiton (ASX:BHP,NYSE:BHP,LSE:BLT) expects iron prices to continue downward, but sees China’s steel demand improving.
As quoted in the market news:

BHP Billiton, the world’s largest miner, was downbeat on Wednesday about iron-ore prices as low-cost producers continue to swamp the market and as the intensity of China’s demand for the steel making raw material ebbs.However, there were some positive signs on the economic outlook for top commodity consumer China, BHP officials told a briefing during the LME Week industry gathering.
A global glut and falling Chinese steel demand have dragged spot iron-ore prices to less than $60 a tonne from a high of nearly $200 in 2011. The price is forecast to drop to $50 over the next two years, a Reuters poll showed.
“By the end of this year, there will be additional iron-ore coming from Australia, from Brazil,” Arnoud Balhuizen, president of the group’s marketing unit, told a media briefing. “Our expectation is that the iron-ore market cost curve will continue to flatten and continue to come under pressure.”
In China, while some state-owned iron-ore mines continue to operate even though they are losing money, privately-owned mines have largely been closing down when they go into the red, he added.

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