Although China’s economic growth is slowing down, ongoing urbanization will still strongly support demand for iron ore and steel products for a long time. “We have confidence in China’s iron ore demand because its urbanization requires a large amount of steel products in the coming years,” said Neville Power, CEO of Fortescue Metals Group, the third-biggest iron ore producer in Australia. Based on the huge benchmark iron ore demand from China, even if it increases at a slower rate in the future, is still a big number, said Power. The view is shared with top officials of other international mining firms. Sam Walsh, Chief Executive of Rio Tinto, said: “The growth in China is still there, China is our most important market.” The company will continue to expand its iron ore capacity in Western Australia to meet growing demand from China. He regarded China as the key driver of iron ore demand because of its continued growth and ongoing urbanization. Li Xinchuang, Dean of the China Metallurgical Industry Planning and Research Institute, estimated earlier this month that China will import 850 million metric tons of iron ore in 2014.

The price of iron ore is predicted to drop this year as growth of China’s steel production slows and the supply of raw materials from international mining giants increases, according to industry experts. An estimate from UBS in January said the average price of iron ore would decline from USD120 per metric ton in 2013 to USD110 per metric ton this year, an 8.33% year-on-year decrease.