Monday, March 14,
Spot iron ore prices in China fell to three-month lows and continued to lose ground on Monday, with a shutdown in some Japanese steel plants expected to reduce demand for the steelmaking raw material..*
Japan battled on Monday to avert a nuclear catastrophe and to care for millions of people without power or water in its worst crisis since World War Two, in the wake of a massive earthquake and tsunami that are feared to have killed more than 10,000 people.
We estimate 15-18 million tonnes of annualised steel production capacity may be affected, given the proximity of the steel mills to the earthquake, which could equate to 20-25 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of iron ore and 9-10 mtpa of coking coal,” Macquarie said in a note.
Japan is the world’s second-largest steel producer.
“Assuming (these) mills are closed for six months, 22.2 million tonnes of iron ore demand could be removed from the seaborne market,” experts said.
But Nippon Steel, the world’s fourth-biggest steelmaker, said on Sunday it had resumed shipments from all its steel plants except its Kaimishi facility in northern Japan.
Source: Reuters
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