Reported by Luke 2020-3-17

In the afternoon of March 13th, the relevant person in charge of China Iron and Steel Association and the Vale Shanghai Office exchanged information on the production and operation of Vale, the steel and iron ore market and the impact of the COVID-19 through a conference call.

According to Vale, there are currently no COVID-19 throughout the company, and the epidemic has not caused any substantial impact on its operations, logistics, sales or financial status.

The relevant person in charge of the Steel Association said that since the outbreak of the epidemic, steel prices have fallen sharply and iron ore prices have remained high. The two are incompatible and are not conducive to the long-term healthy development of the steel and iron ore industry chain.

From the perspective of demand, overseas iron ore demand is showing a downward trend. World Iron and Steel Association data show that in January of this year, excluding China and other countries and regions, crude steel and pig iron output decreased by 3.4% and 4.4% year-on-year respectively. Affected by the spread of the epidemic globally, it is expected that the decline in overseas steel output will further expand in the later period.

He said that China Steel Association will further strengthen the monitoring of relevant information and data. At the same time, it is suggested that steel companies should not participate in the hype of the futures market.