The Ministry of Commerce has been ordered to rectify the order of imported iron ore market

On the 17th, the former vice president of the China Iron and Steel Association, Luo Bingsheng, disclosed at the “2011 Metallurgy and Mineral Products Conference” that the China Iron and Steel Association has recently made to the State Council “the adverse impact of the sharp increase in imported iron ore prices on the steel industry. "Thematic reports have been written that this issue has been submitted to the Ministry of Commerce for research and resolution.

According to reports from the Ministry of Commerce, the rectification will focus on the two aspects of “implementing the import iron ore agent system” and “reasonably controlling the import of iron ore from the port”. In order to ensure the effectiveness of the implementation, the China Steel Association and the Minmetals Chamber of Commerce will also jointly lead the formulation of relevant penalties and supervision measures.

Regarding quality issues such as “high water content” that frequently occurred in imported iron ore since 2010, the China Iron and Steel Association also promoted the establishment of “Quality Standards for Imported Iron Ore”, with regard to grade, moisture content, and content of imported iron ore. * Quantity and other quality aspects are stipulated, sub-standard ore will be banned from import.

The problem of disordered trading order in China's imported iron ore market has been coordinated and resolved by the China Iron and Steel Association and the Minmetals Import and Export Chamber of Commerce for many years. The position of Luo Bingsheng at this time shows that the level of solving this problem has been improved. In the future, the Ministry of Commerce will bear the major responsibility of rectifying the order of the imported iron ore market.

The results are still worrying as early as 2008, China Steel Association will focus on the issue of resolving the soaring price of imported iron ore to rectify the domestic market. On February 18 of that year, the "Convention on the Self-Discipline of the Iron Ore Trade Order Imported by the Iron and Steel Industry" was announced, and it was proposed to implement the iron ore import agency system and conduct strict inspections on import qualifications.

Two years later, in April 2010, the China Iron and Steel Association and the Minmetals Chamber of Commerce jointly issued the 2010 “Iron Ore Import Enterprise Qualification Standards”, “Implementary Rules for Imported Iron Ore Agents System” and “Imported Iron Ore Contracts are regularly reported. "Registration and Registration of Records of Flows," three industry self-regulatory documents. However, the subsequent rectification process is still slow.

The original intention of the China Iron and Steel Association for rectification was to eliminate the market price and unify the long-term price in the domestic market. However, as the three major miners implemented the quarterly pricing, the so-called long-term cooperation price has gradually approached the market price. From this point of view, it is difficult to obtain the effect of reducing the ore price again in rectifying the iron ore import market.

In addition, although the government level has raised the level of concern for the imported iron ore market, the iron and steel industry is still not optimistic about the prospect of rectifying the order of imported iron ore.

Insiders pointed out that the former China Steel Association’s Secretary-General Shan Shanghua, who pushed the three industry self-regulatory documents at the time, took the initiative to resign in early March and retired early; at that time, the “imported iron ore joint” was established to implement this reorganization action. The head of the office "China Steel Association" and Chen Xianwen, former director of the China Steel Association's market research department, has also left the company. There is still no conclusive decision on who will advance this matter in the future.

More importantly, at the time when the three industry self-regulatory documents were introduced, the Minmetals Chamber of Commerce had expressed opposition. At the “Common Meeting on Normative Iron Ore Market Order” held jointly with China Iron and Steel Association, the leaders of the Minmetals Chamber of Commerce once opposed the passage of the document by way of early departure.

In the future, the responsibility for rectifying the import market for iron ore will be handled by the Ministry of Commerce. As the competent department of the Minmetals Chamber of Commerce, the attitude of the Ministry of Commerce on the matter also has certain variables.