“From 2003 to 2011, China’s steel industry spent more than US$300 billion on iron ore prices in the past nine years.” Li Xinchuang, executive deputy secretary-general of China Iron and Steel Industry Association and president of the Metallurgical Industry Planning Institute, on the 27th Metallurgical Industry Planning and Research Institute According to the 2013 China Steel Demand Forecast Results Conference, according to the forecast of China's pig iron output of 694 million tons in 2013, the demand for iron ore finished ore in 2013 was 1.11 billion tons, up 4.0% year-on-year. Stone is about 760 million tons, of which the demand for imported iron ore still accounts for more than 60%, which means that the situation of high dependence on iron ore raw materials in China will exist for a long time.

Li Xinchuang told reporters that the China Iron and Steel Association recently led a team to a number of steel mills to conduct research, steel mills operating conditions are very poor, including the market downturn, high raw fuel prices, high financing costs have become the main cause of steel mill losses, " Working for mines and banks" has become a true portrayal of the steel industry.

Iron ore, dubbed "crazy stone", is the heaviest burden on the shoulders of the steel industry. According to data from the Metallurgical Planning Institute, in recent years, with the strong growth of iron ore demand, the international trade price of iron ore has continued to rise. From 1990 to 2002, the amount of iron ore imported by China was less than 100 million tons, and the landed price of imported iron ore during this period fluctuated around $25/ton; and after 2002, China imported iron. The amount of ore has risen sharply, reaching a record high of 686 million tons in 2011. The average annual land price of iron ore reached a peak of $163.8/ton in 2011. Imports and import prices of iron ore have historically increased significantly compared to 2002.

"At present, the iron ore financial operation is very serious. The three major mines and other overseas mining monopoly giants can make huge profits by controlling the amount of shipping and unreasonable bidding. You can look at the cost of 40 US dollars, even if the current iron ore price has dropped to 110. The dollar, but the profits are still considerable," Li Xinchuang said. It cannot be ignored, although the iron and steel industry is in a difficult situation, the iron ore import volume is still at a high level. According to the data released by the Metallurgical Planning and Research Institute, according to the forecast of 667 million tons of pig iron production in 2012, China’s consumption of iron ore finished products in 2012 was about 1.067 billion tons. , a year-on-year increase of 4.6%; the proportion of consumption of imported iron ore is still above 60%. According to the import volume of iron ore from January to October 2012, it is estimated that the iron ore import volume this year is about 730 million tons.

It is worth noting that in addition to the iron ore dependence on imports, it is difficult to break in the short term. At present, domestic mines are also facing the pressure of excessive tax burden. “The domestic iron ore enterprise tax burden is above 25%, exceeding the level of other industries. The tax burden of foreign mines is usually less than 10%. Excessive tax burden raises the cost of domestic mines and indirectly pushes up the price of international mines. Therefore, it is necessary to give a fair tax burden to domestic mines. Chuang told reporters.

For the operation of the steel industry next year, Li Xinchuang said that in the context of China's economic growth slowdown and the increasingly complex international economic environment in 2012, the growth of steel downstream industries such as machinery and home appliances slowed down, and shipbuilding and container industries appeared. Negative growth, although China's steel consumption has increased, but the growth rate has dropped significantly. In 2013, except for the decline in the development of the shipbuilding industry and the maintenance of the container and home appliance industry in 2012, other industries will have different degrees of growth, so steel demand will continue to increase slightly. According to 2012, China's crude steel output will reach 716 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 4.5%. It is estimated that the crude steel output in 2013 will be 746 million tons, an increase of 4.2%.