China Reduces Reliance on Imported Iron Ore

China's dependence on imported iron ore is expected to decline to 60% in 2010 from 70% a year ago, marking the first YoY decrease over recent years, an industry expert told a forum Sunday. The prediction was based on the fact that the nation's iron ore imports fell 2.2% in the first 10 months compared to the same period last year as Vale, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton adopted a seasonally adjustable price scheme to raise prices, said Luo Bingsheng, deputy director of the China Iron & Steel Association. Of China's iron ore imports between January and Ocotber, only 30.5%, or 192 million tons, were extracted from mines owned by Chinese companies. The smaller amount of imports has led to China's home-made iron ore production to jump by 24.4% to 870.94 million tons in the first 10 months. Luo also warned of excess capacity in the steel making industry.