China, the world''s largest iron ore consumer, has kicked off the talks for next year''s iron ore pricing, after officially adopting a quarterly scheme this year, the China Iron & Steel Association (CISA) said on Friday.
China has already been already in talks for iron ore pricing next year, Luo Bingsheng, CISA''s deputy chairman told at a press conference.
Chinese steelmakers have been forced to buy iron ore shipments on a quarterly pricing since this year, despite strong criticism from the industry body.
Luo also said that China''s fourth-quarter iron ore imports would be higher than the average of previous three quarters, but the whole year''s imports will be lower than last year.
The massive steel sector, responsible for almost half of the world''s steel output, has seen slower steel production during the last quarter as a result of energy efficiency measures.
"China''s crude steel demand will remain low, with even negative growth for the fourth quarter, and steel production will also seen low growth for the same period," CISA said in a website statement on Friday.
The association''s members, comprised 77 medium- and large-sized steel mills, reported a gross profit of 64 billion Yuan ($9.6 billion) for the first three quarters this year, up 98 percent from a year ago, but the profit margin was only 2.84 percent, Luo added.
"Those firms'' profit margin was lower than the average level of China''s whole heavy industry, and that for August dropped to as low as 1.45 percent," it added in the statement.