Constrained by the high iron ore price, China spent 85.7 billion yuan more on iron ore imports in the first quarter of this year than during the same period of last year, and the profit made was 2.6 times that of the corresponding period.
The China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) is considering introducing a national iron ore price index, but the timetable has not been determined.
In the first quarter of the year, the average import price for iron ore was 157.60 U.S. dollars per ton, a year-on-year increase of 57 percent. If based on the 230 million tons of quarterly import volume, China's steel industry will spend 13.2 billion yuan more due to the increasing price of iron ore, said Luo Bingsheng, deputy secretary of the Party committee of the CISA, on May 29.
In addition, in the first quarter, China's steel enterprises realized 32.98 billion net profits, which is a drop of 2.12 percent compared to same period last year. According to statistics, eight out of 77 steel enterprises reported losses, which means that the extra cost of China's steel industries is 2.6 times than the profits