UNITED KINGDOM March 10 2017 8:12 AM

LONDON (Scrap Register): After the dramatic increases in 2016 and early 2017, Chinese iron ore prices have recently fallen. China, the world’s top iron ore buyer, received record imports of the commodity in 2016. 

Despite recent statistics showing that the country is now experiencing a decline in steel exports, February’s imports of the raw material continued to climb. 

Stockpiles of imported iron ore are continuing to build up at the ports, as demand is failing to consume the surplus volumes. 

With reduced export opportunities, as a result of trade actions in various countries, China now looks to its own domestic market and its investment in infrastructure to consume the oversupply. 

On a global level, this has contributed to an increase in steel selling values, but will the price increases hold or will they follow the decline in iron ore?

MEPS forecasts that global steel prices will fall in the second half of 2017.

Source: MEPS