"This year's business is particularly difficult to do, and now there are already some iron ore traders who are beginning to look for a transition," informed sources revealed yesterday. According to him, the reasons for the forced transformation of traders are, on the one hand, because of frequent fluctuations in iron ore prices this year; on the other hand, the import qualifications of some traders have been cancelled.

The management of an iron ore trading company in Tianjin also told this newspaper: “Although most traders are still sticking to it, some people have already started to retire. A good friend of mine used to work in a trading company before, but now he went to a company to do copywriting. It's up."

The number of import companies reduced to 105. According to the above-mentioned sources, starting from August 1, Chinese enterprises with iron ore import qualifications have been reduced to 105. The companies that have been disqualified include Shanghai Shangshi International Trade (Group) Co., Ltd. Wait. According to reports, companies that have been canceled import qualifications have annual import volume of less than 1 million tons.

In the past few years, the China Iron and Steel Association (hereinafter referred to as the "China Steel Association") has been quibbled about the iron ore trading companies and believes that the "reconciliation" of the trading companies has pushed up iron ore prices.

After 2005, the profit gained through “reverse mining” is getting higher and higher. There are more than 500 imported ore companies on the market, and speculation in the market has become increasingly serious.

On February 28, 2005, an industry self-regulatory measure aimed at regulating China's iron and steel industry's own business behavior - "Qualification Standards and Reporting Procedures for Iron Ore Import Enterprises" (draft) in the China Minmetals Chemicals Import & Export Chamber of Commerce and China Steel The “Emergency Meeting on the Implementation of Management Measures for Automatic Import Licensing of Iron Ore” jointly held by the Association was approved by the entire industry. After this review, the number of companies that eventually had the qualification for importing iron ore was reduced to 118 from the previous 523, including 70 steel mills and 48 traders.

In the following two years, as the phenomenon of speculation became more serious, the state reviewed the import order of iron ore. In 2007, the “Iron Ore Import Enterprise Qualification Standard” raised the threshold. If the registered capital of the enterprise should reach 20 million yuan (inclusive) or more, the total import of iron ore by the enterprise according to customs statistics in 2005 must reach 700,000 tons. And above.

After the final review, the state only fine-tuned it from 118 to 112. Although this round of adjustments has improved in terms of standards, the impact has not been essentially different from the first time.

According to the above-mentioned sources, 112 companies were later reduced to 108. Starting from August 1 this year, along with the implementation of the iron ore agency system, the number of import qualification companies has been reduced by 3, “This qualification cut has not been implemented. The announcement is only internal."

Although the number of enterprises with import qualifications has been reduced, the current iron ore agency system is still very difficult and executives are paralyzed.

Traders helpless to transition "Recently, we also learned that some traders have begun to change their attitudes and are willing to implement the agency system. In the past, if the procurement time was well-controlled, it was almost a huge profit, but since the pricing of iron ore indices was implemented, Business is getting harder and harder. It is not as good as the agency system, and it earns a few dollars per ton.” Xu Guangjian, an iron ore analyst at China United Steel Network, told the newspaper yesterday.

The above-mentioned management of the Tianjin iron ore trading company stated: “This year, iron ore prices fluctuate frequently and the amplitude of the shocks is not large, so it is difficult to grasp the timing of procurement.”

“From January to July this year, the spot price of iron ore imported from China was exceptionally stable, and the price fluctuation range was very small.” Xu Guangjian said that taking 63.5% of Indian fines as an example, the highest price this year was US$198/ton during the Spring Festival. The lowest price was $170/ton, which was a difference of only $28/ton. In 2011, more than 7 months passed, the price was in a narrow range around $180/ton ±10 dollars.

In the past few years, 63.5% of India's fines accounted for the highest price of 188 US$/ton in 2010, the lowest was 124 US$/ton, a difference of 64 US$; the highest and lowest gap in 2009 was 63 US$/ton; in 2008, it was 132 US$/ton; The year is 123 USD/ton.

Earlier, it was predicted that due to the uncertainty of economic development and the financialization of the iron ore market, iron ore prices will fluctuate significantly in 2011. The actual situation is just the opposite. The market performance has been stable this year, and the spot iron ore price has been fluctuating. Not scared.

“The shocks are small and frequent, making it difficult for traders to seize the opportunity. When prices are reduced, they think that they will drop, but they will not be long before they are up. When they are low, they have no time to purchase them.” Xu Guangjian said.