A labourer shovels iron ore into a steel ladle at a factory in the capital of central China's Hubei province October 17, 2007. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo Dalian (Reuters) - China’s iron ore demand has already peaked and is expected to stay flat, an official of the country’s biggest listed steelmaker, Baoshan Iron & Steel Co, said on Thursday. China bought a record 1.08 billion tonnes of the steelmaking raw ingredient last year, the second successive year in which purchases crossed the 1-billion mark. “China’s steel mills have been focused on the quality of iron ore and that trend will be even more clear,” Ji Chao, an assistant to the company president, told an industrial conference. “However, mills still need to consider cost, and hopefully we can find a balance.” Low-quality iron ore from overseas will remain competitive, he added. As China adopts tougher environmental rules and stockpiles of steel scrap grow, output from electric-arc furnaces, or mini-mills that use only scrap as raw material, is expected to rise, Ji said. Reporting by Muyu Xu and Manolo Serapio Jr.; Editing by Clarence Fernandez
Following a surge in demand in recent years, an official from China's largest listed steelmaker, Baosteel, has claimed that iron ore demand in the country has already peaked and is expected to stay flat. Chinese imports of the material passed the one billion tonne threshold for the second consecutive year in 2017, with steel mills focusing on high quality iron ore due to steep government-enforced emissions curbs. However, Ji Chao, an assistant to the company president, said mini mills that use only scrap metals as feedstock are expected to rise as scrap stockpiles grow.