China mulls resources security system

CISA secretary general Shan Shanghua said China is considering a plan to set up an iron ore security system designed to shun the risks of fluctuations in price and quality. In the first half of this year, the average delivered prices of iron ore into China increased by 46.9 percent from a year earlier, to $111.5 per ton whereas the quality of imported iron ore was worsening. According to Chinese Customs data, the qualified rate of imported iron ore last year stood at merely 51 percent, and even worse in the first half of this year. Shan said the proposed system should include an improved program for recycling ferrous scrap, stronger support to the exploration of domestic resources, the encouragement of the go global strategy and powerful countermeasures to the monopoly in the international iron ore market.