According to China Ministry of Commerce, China has almost completely lost its pricing power in international trade as the prices of key commodities, including iron ore, oil, copper and food, have soared this year amid mounting imports by the world second largest economy.
Mr Yao Jian a spokesman for the ministry, noted at a business forum in Beijing that one major challenge China faces and will have to conquer is having no say in the pricing scheme of bulk commodities.
The long existing problem was highlighted recently after Vale, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto Group threatened last month to cut supplies to China unless steel makers accept their price demands. China steel lobbyist, the China Iron and Steel Association finally compromised and allowed steel makers to reach temporary private deals with ore producers.
Mr Yao said "The steel mills, which have to accept the new quarterly pricing system raised by the global miners, will have to pay at least USD 70 billion more this year, based on the current prices and last year import volume. He said that a phenomenon began in the international commodity market this century. The price of a commodity will rise if China intends to buy it, and it will fall if China will sell. China pricing power in the international trade system has almost completely collapsed though our import volume is huge."
Mr Yao argued that the abnormal situation in foreign trade indicates that there are many problems in our market mechanism, which could affect further opening to the outside world and sustainable and steady economic development.
Mr Yao on Sunday cited three ways to change the unfavorable position,
1. Integrating the domestic market to strengthen cooperation between enterprises
2. Employing antimonopoly laws and WTO rules to contain the manipulation of prices by global miners
3. Making use of multiple financial means, including futures markets and to enhance Chinese enterprises' influence on market prices.
Mr Zhou Shijian a senior researcher with the Center for US China Relations at Tsinghua University told the Global Times that low industrial concentration and the absence of an integrated domestic market are important factors affecting China pricing power in the world's raw-materials market.
He said that "There are too many small players in the domestic market that conduct business deals separately instead of forming an alliance in price negotiations, causing China to lose the initiative in setting prices for bulk commodities in both imports and exports.”
Mr Liu Chen an analyst with a Beijing based futures brokerage told the Global Times Monday that limited purchasing channels have made China more passive in pricing negotiations.