Steel industrial bodies of China and Japan met on Tuesday to discuss ways of controlling surging raw material prices and develop reasonable pricing mechanism for supply chains, according to media reports.
China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) Vice President, Luo Tiejun, discussed the price rise issue with Nippon Steel’s Chinese representative.
Production capacity, raw material prices, iron ore pricing mechanisms, and steel market trends were some of the issues that came up. They will continue to discuss issues such as low carbon metallurgical technology.
China-Japan steel and iron ore market partnerships can cut down prices of raw materials and establish a reasonable pricing structure to help the stressed supply chains, said Beijing Lange Steel Information Research Center’s Director, Wang Guoqing.
China is aiming to increase its say in the iron ore pricing with Japan by their side. Japanese companies are at the forefront with investment in Australia and Brazil, major producers of steel raw material. This will help Japan to profit from the current price surge in the long-term.
In 2020, Japan’s iron ore import touched 99.4 mn mt, declining for the sixth year in a row. China’s was ten times this number.
In first five months of 2021, imports of iron ore in China have increased 6pc to 472 mn mt. Iron ore prices in China increased by 62.7pc to $161.6/mt. Government inspections to check irregularities in the market will stabilize steel prices in China as demand weakens, said CISA.