Brazilian miner MMX''s commercial director Chequer Hanna Bou Habib expects the price of iron ore to stay above USD 100 per tonne through 2012 due to growing demand.
Mr Habib during the SBB Steel Markets Latin America congress said that there will be no shortage of iron ore in the future, as investments in production will keep growing to keep pace with consumption levels.
MMX''s price contracts are at an average of USD 144 per tonne in Q3 compared to USD 110 to USD 112 per tonne in Q2. For the fourth quarter, Mr Habib expects prices to go down but to remain higher than in April to June.
MMX does not plan to invest in steelmaking in the near future, unlike compatriot miner Vale. However, a future steelmaking project could result from a partnership between local conglomerate EBX''s logistics arm LLX and China''s Wuhan Iron & Steel.