全球經濟不景氣 鐵礦石價格跌至5年低點
The price of benchmark iron ore for delivery into China has fallen by more than 40 per cent this year as a wave of new supply, mainly from mines in Australia, has hit the market.
因新一波供應浪潮衝擊市場，運抵中國的基準鐵礦石價格今年已累計下跌逾40%。此番鐵礦石供應主要來自澳大利亞礦區。
However, the supply tsunami is not the only factor weighing on iron ore, which recently hit a five-year low and is now trading at $80 a tonne. Concerns about a slowdown in demand from China, the world’s biggest steelmaker and consumer of seaborne iron ore, have also taken hold.
鐵礦石價格最近已經觸及5年低點，至每噸80美元。但這一規模巨大的供應浪潮並非令鐵礦石價格承壓的唯一因素，有關中國需求放緩的擔憂也是一大因素。中國是全球最大鍊鋼國和海運鐵礦石消費國。It is against this backdrop that Glencore sounded out Rio Tinto about a potential merger of the two companies.
此際，嘉能可(Glencore)正與力拓(Rio Tinto)就兩家公司可能的合併進行討論。
Goldman Sachs analysts say the iron ore industry’s long period of above-trend profitability has come to an end, destroyed by the Billions of dollars that large producers have ploughed into new, low-cost capacity.
高盛(Goldman Sachs)分析師表示，鐵礦石行業利潤率長期高於趨勢水平的狀況已告結束，原因在於大型生產商向新的低成本產能投入了數十億美元資金。In sPite of the price slump, the big three iron ore producers – BHP Billiton, Rio and Vale – have no plans to change their strategies to increase production, even though some leading shareholders are questioning whether they should be adding more tonnes to an oversupplied market.
儘管鐵礦石價格下滑，但三大鐵礦石生產商——必和必拓(BHP Billiton)、力拓(Rio)和巴西淡水河谷(Vale)並不計劃改變其提高產量的戰略，不過一些主要股東正對是否應給本已供應過度的市場增加更多產能提出質疑。As low cost producers, BHP and its rivals are betting prices will stabilise and the market rebalance as smaller miners with higher overheads become uncompetitive and are forced to curtail production.
作爲低成本鐵礦石生產商，必和必拓及其競爭對手正押注於鐵礦石價格將企穩，同時市場將再度平衡，因爲支出更高的較小規模礦商已變得不具競爭力，並被迫限產。BHP said this week that an expansion of its Australian operations would reward shareholders even at current prices.
必和必拓本週表示，即便是在目前的價格上，澳大利亞的業務擴張也會給股東回報。It said raising output was the right strategy to make the most of its investment – $22bn in the past five years – in iron ore mines in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
該公司表示，提高產量的戰略是合理的，因爲這將充分利用其在西澳皮巴拉地區鐵礦石礦區的投資。過去5年，該公司已在該地區投資220億美元。
