鐵礦石現貨價格跌至5年低點

A lack of demand for physical cargoes has seen the price of iron ore hit a five-year low.

需求不足導致現貨鐵礦石價格跌至5年低點。

Benchmark Australia ore for immediate delivery into China fell $1.10 to $76 a tonne on Wednesday, the lowest level since June 2009.

週三，即期中國到岸澳大利亞基準鐵礦石價格下跌1.10美元，至76美元/噸，爲2009年6月以來的最低水平。

The steelmaking commodity has declined more than 40 per cent this year as supply from the world’s biggest producers – BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Vale – has overwhelmed demand growth, which has started to weaken.

今年以來，鐵礦石價格累計降幅超過40%，這是因爲世界三大鐵礦石生產商——必和必拓(BHP Billiton)、力拓(Rio Tinto)和淡水河谷(Vale)的供應大幅超過需求增長。全球鐵礦石需求增長已開始疲軟。

Traders said no deals were done on spot market trading platforms on Wednesday, with Chinese steel mills and traders content to wait for further declines.

交易員表示，週三現貨交易平臺上沒有達成一宗交易，因爲中國的鋼鐵企業和交易商都在坐等價格進一步下跌。

The closure of steel mills near Beijing ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) conference this week has been blamed by many commentators for lack of interest in physical cargoes.

在本週亞太經合組織(Apec)會議召開之前，北京周邊的鋼鐵廠被暫時停工，許多評論人士認爲這是鐵礦石現貨無人問津的原因。

China is the world’s biggest consumer of seaborne iron ore, accounting for about two-thirds of global demand However, Melinda Moore, analyst at Standard Bank, said seasonality was also playing its part.

中國是全球最大的海運鐵礦石消費國，約佔全球需求量的三分之二。然而，標準銀行(Standard Bank)分析師梅林達•摩爾(Melinda Moore)說，季節性因素也在發揮作用。

As temperatures across northern China start to drop, so does construction and, in turn, demand for iron ore.

隨着中國北方開始降溫，建築活動在放緩，進而鐵礦石需求也在減少。

Ms Moore said data from the China Iron and Steel Association showed average daily crude steel output of large and medium-sized mills had fallen 7.5 per cent in the past 10 days of October ahead of the winter slowdown, while inventories were down almost 10 per cent to 14.1m tonnes.

摩爾說，中國鋼鐵工業協會(CISA)數據顯示，在冬季放緩之前的10月下旬，中國大中型鋼鐵企業的日均粗鋼產量已下跌了7.5%，而存貨量減少近10%，至1410萬噸。