In 2018, Vale, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and FMG produced a total of 1.16 billion tons of iron ore and sold to China about 850 million tons, of which 203 million tons were Vale, 259 million tons were Rio Tinto, and BHP Billiton 2.3 100 million tons, FMG 158 million tons, accounting for more than 80% of China's total iron ore imports. The other 300 million tons are mainly sold to Asian countries such as Japan and South Korea, and a small part is sold to Europe and the United States.

In 2019, Vale, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and FMG produced a total of 1.042 million tons of iron ore.

In 2020, the steel production situation in Europe and the United States is extremely unfavorable to the growth of demand for marine iron ore. In the European Union, the European Iron and Steel Association (Eurofer) in the first quarter of this year ’s report reduced the apparent increase in EU steel consumption in 2020 from 1.4% in the fourth quarter of 2019 to 1.2%, to 159 million tons. In non-EU regions, the proportion of Turkish electric furnace steel is about 69%. Russia and Ukraine have their own mineral resources and do not rely on imports. For the United States, long-flow steel mills based on blast furnaces are already "dead end". This is not only because the U.S. electric furnace steel accounts for a relatively high proportion, but also suffers losses from major U.S. long-flow steel companies such as American Iron and Steel. %related.

Taken together, world steel production data for January 2020 fully shows that demand for marine iron ore other than China will further decrease, and coupled with the impact of the epidemic, China's iron ore supply environment will be further relaxed. In the short term, iron ore shipments in Brazil and Australia have increased significantly.

In Asia, despite India ’s crude steel output growth and promising prospects, India is not short of iron ore. At the same time, India ’s policy environment is increasingly conducive to releasing more iron ore capacity and exporting more iron ore. Iron ore. As a result, India not only has little demand (very small amounts) for marine iron ore, but it is also expected to bring more iron ore exports.

Because of the low proportion of EAF steel (25%), Japan has become the world's largest importer of seaborne iron ore except China. But in recent years, its crude steel output has been declining, and 2019 crude steel output is below 100 million tons for the first time in 10 years. As of 2019, Japan's iron ore imports have fallen year-on-year for five consecutive years. In addition, with the completion of the infrastructure construction of the Tokyo Olympics in Japan and the sluggish overseas demand, domestic demand and exports of Japanese steel are facing the risk of further decline, and crude steel production is expected to further decline. Due to the huge losses, Japan Iron & Steel, Japan's largest steel producer, announced in February that it would reduce its production capacity by about 10%, which is expected to reduce the demand for imported iron ore by about 10 million tons. In January this year, Japan ’s iron ore imports were 90.43 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 1.5% and a month-on-month decrease of 7.5%.

In recent years, Korea ’s crude steel production has generally remained stable, with almost zero growth in pig iron output, and very little demand for new iron ore. Although Southeast Asian countries have seen rapid growth in crude steel output, the new demand brought about by the small base has been limited. In the Middle East, all the increase in crude steel production comes from Iran, but its electric furnace steel proportion is as high as 90%, and it is an exporter of iron ore.

In summary, it is expected that in 2020, the demand for marine iron ore from steel-producing countries other than China will be significantly reduced compared to 2019. At present, the production and sales targets of overseas mining companies in 2020 will generally remain stable , But it is not excluded that there may be some variables in the rhythm of delivery.

Under the influence of multiple factors such as reduced global iron ore demand, China's suspension of steel production capacity replacement and project filing, and the outbreak of steel companies to limit production, the Chinese steel companies will usher in a more favorable iron ore compared to 2019. Stone supplies the environment. However, it needs to be reminded that Chinese steel companies should pay attention to the procurement rhythm and avoid repeating the same mistakes.