A Person Who Asks A Question Is A Fool For Five Minutes, A Person Who Doesn't Is A Fool Forever ... Your position:Home->china business-> Iron Ore Import Rules Tightened China, the world's biggest iron ore consumer and importer, yesterday raised the threshold for domestic steelmakers and trading companies to qualify for imports of the main raw material used to make steel for a second time since 2005. Iron ore importers will now require registered capital of at least 20 million yuan (US$2.56 million), double that currently needed, according to a joint statement from the China Iron & Steel Association and the Firms will also be required to have imported at least 700,000 tons of iron ore last year. This is up from the previous threshold of 300,000 tons. There are 118 iron ore importers in This number of importers will drop when the new policy comes into effect in February, said Luo Bingsheng, vice-chairman of the China Iron & Steel Association. Luo declined to reveal how many importers the association believes will survive. In May of last year The latest policy came after The three suppliers control over 70 percent of the global iron ore market and have been raising prices in recent years partly due to Chinese importers' rampant purchasing at high prices. "We expect the new regulation will put iron ore imports in order," Luo said. He said the new policy would add strict resource-saving and environment requirements for domestic steel mills aiming to qualify for iron ore imports. Both Luo and Chen Haoran, chairman of the chamber of commerce, encouraged small steel mills unable to qualify for iron ore imports to find eligible companies as their "agents" in an effort to secure supplies. However, according to the new policy, importers will be forbidden to sell iron ore to steelmakers that haven't followed government orders to eliminate their outdated production capacity. Luo said companies wishing to qualify for iron ore imports should join the steel association or the chamber of commerce and abide by their "coordination and self-discipline measures." Luo estimated Luo and other industry officials predicted earlier that a balance between the global iron ore supply and demand could be expected thanks to swelling production in Domestic iron ore production is forecast to surge by 28.8 percent to 644 million tons this year. In 2007 it would grow by 10 percent, the association predicted. Both Luo and Chen yesterday said Baosteel's deals with CVRD, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto were positive steps for the industry in The nation's top 82 steel companies reported 81.1 billion yuan (US$10.4 billion) in combined profits in the first 11 months of this year. This is a climb of 7.64 percent from a year ago. Luo also predicted crude steel production in (
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