價格滑坡致中國40%鐵礦停產

The Chinese iron ore and steel industry has painted a gloomy outlook for the sector with officials revealing that roughly 40 per cent of the country's iron mines have shut down because of low prices.

中國鐵礦石及鋼鐵業爲自己描繪了一幅黯淡的前景，官員們透露，由於價格偏低，中國大約40%的鐵礦已經停產。

The bearish tone at the annual gathering backed by the China Iron and Steel Association was reinforced yesterday by Baosteel, China's biggest listed steelmaker, which announced more production cuts amid weak demand.

中國最大上市鍊鋼企業寶鋼(Baosteel)昨日宣佈，面對疲弱需求，將進一步減產，這個消息強化了中國鋼鐵工業協會(CISA)主辦的年度會議上的悲觀基調。

The cutbacks suggest that the industry has little faith that the $150bn programme in infrastructure projects that Beijing approved this month would provide more than temporary relief.

寶鋼的減產計劃似乎表明，行業對北京方面本月批准的1500億美元基建項目計劃沒有什麼信心，認爲其最多隻能提供暫時的緩解。

Iron ore and steel prices rose after the spending boost was approved but have since fallen again.

鐵礦石和鋼材價格在上述支出增加計劃獲得批准後一度上升，但自那以來已經回落。

Over the past decade, China's steel demand has seen double-digit growth but this has dropped to the low single-digits this year.

過去10年期間，中國的鋼材需求以兩位數增幅不斷增長，但今年已降至個位數增幅。

As a result, overall profits at Chinese steel companies – which include names such as Baosteel, Ansteeland Wuhan Iron and Steel– fell 50 per cent in the first half of this year compared with last year, according to official statistics.

其結果是，官方統計數據顯示，今年上半年中國鍊鋼企業（包括寶鋼、鞍鋼和武鋼）的總利潤同比下降50%。

The drop in steel demand in China has, in turn, triggered a drop in iron ore and coking coal consumption, which is hurting some of the world's largest mining groups, including Valeof Brazil, Rio Tinto, BHP Billitonand Anglo American.

中國鋼材需求下降，已進而引發鐵礦石和煉焦煤消費量下降，從而打擊一些全球最大的礦業集團，包括巴西的淡水河谷(Vale)、力拓(Rio Tinto)、必和必拓(BHP Billiton)以及英美資源(Anglo American)。

Iron ore prices, which hit an all-time high of nearly $200 a tonne in early 2011, fell recently to a three-year low of $89 a tonne.

曾在2011年初達到每噸近200美元史上最高位的鐵礦石價格，近期跌至每噸89美元的三年低位。

The drop has prompted some miners to cancel multi-billion dollar investment projects in Australia, the biggest producer.

價格下跌已促使一些礦商叫停澳大利亞（全球最大鐵礦石出產國）的一些鉅額投資項目。

But some relief could be under way as Chinese iron ore miners start to close pits as prices drop below their cost of production.

但是，一些利好因素可能即將顯現。隨着鐵礦石價格跌至低於生產成本的水平，中國鐵礦石企業開始讓一些礦山停產。

Liu Xiaoliang, executive deputy secretary-general of the Metallurgical Mines Association of China, told the conference that low prices had forced about 40 per cent of the country's iron mines to suspend operations.

中國冶金礦山企業協會(Metallurgical Mines Association of China)執行副祕書長劉效良在上述會議上表示，價格滑坡已迫使中國約40%的鐵礦石礦山暫停生產。

Scarlett Chan, analyst at Citi in Hong Kong, said that the production cuts reflected weak demand for iron ore.

花旗(Citi)香港分析師Scarlett Chan表示，減產反映了鐵礦石需求疲弱。

Benchmark iron ore with a 62 per cent iron content changed hands in the spot market yesterday at $106 a tonne, according to Platts.

普氏能源資訊(Platts)的數據顯示，含鐵量62%的基準鐵礦石昨日現貨市場價格爲每噸106美元。

Additional reporting by Javier Blas in London and Reuters in Dalian

哈維爾•布拉斯(Javier Blas)倫敦、路透社(Reuters)大連補充報道