Iron ore price nears $US105 MITCHELL NEEMS AND DOW JONES NEWSWIRES MAY 01, 2014 7:30AM The iron ore price is on the verge of falling back below $US105 a tonne as weakened Chinese steel demand and a refocusing of the Asian nation's economy weigh on sentiment. Benchmark iron ore for immediate delivery to the port of Tianjin in China was trading at $US105.40 a tonne, a decrease on the $US108.30 price in the previous session. In March, the price of iron ore charted its largest one-day price fall in more than four years on persistent fears over China's economy, dropping to as low as $US104.70 a tonne after closing out the previous week at $US114.20 a tonne.

1. 1 5 2014 Iron ore price nears $US105 | The Australian
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/latest/iron-ore-price-nears-us105/story-e6frg90f-1226901622264 1/1
The iron ore price is on the verge of falling back below $US105 a tonne as weakened
Chinese steel demand and a refocusing of the Asian nation's economy weigh on
sentiment.
Benchmark iron ore for immediate delivery to the port of Tianjin in China was trading at
$US105.40 a tonne, a decrease on the $US108.30 price in the previous session.
In March, the price of iron ore charted its largest one-day price fall in more than four
years on persistent fears over China's economy, dropping to as low as $US104.70 a
tonne after closing out the previous week at $US114.20 a tonne.
While this decline has been more gradual, the iron ore price is now on the verge of
falling below that crucial $US105 a tonne threshold once again.
Since the last fall, the commodity had rallied to hit as high as $US119.40 a tonne on
April 10.
A much-anticipated slowdown in the Chinese economy is finally putting the brakes on
demand for steel and, by extension, iron ore.
The World Steel Association said this month that it expects Chinese steel use to
increase by 3 per cent in 2014, less than half of last year's rate and the slowest pace in at
least 15 years. China produces some 50 per cent of all the steel in the world and needs
to import hundreds of millions of tons of iron ore from Brazil and Australia to supply its
mills, effectively setting global prices for the commodity.
But terrible air pollution, an effort to refocus China's economy on consumption rather
than investment, and concerns about overcapacity in the steel industry have led China's
government to clamp down on the sector.
Up to 150 million metric tons of additional iron ore supplies could hit the global market
in 2014, with even more production coming online in following years, according to a
report this month by Standard Bank.
Iron ore price nears $US105
M IT CHELL NEEM S AND DOW JONES NEWSWIRES M AY 01, 2014 7:30AM