Magnitogorsk Holding On To Stake In Iron Ore Producer
08/18/2015 - Russia's OAO Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel is going to wait for better days in the iron ore market before selling its piece of ore producer Fortescue Metals Group Ltd., according to BloombergBusiness.
Magnitogorsk holds a 5-percent stake in Australia-based Fortescue, which is one of the world's largest iron ore producers. Fortescue is being impacted by an oversupplied market created by losing bets on continued growth in China, Bloomberg reported. Fortescue shares have fallen 33 percent this year, Bloomberg noted, adding that they are trading near a six-year low.
Magnitogorsk Chief Financial Officer Sergey Sulimov told Bloomberg that ore prices might make a turn for the better if there is merger between major producers and some of the supply is taken out of the market. Absent that, low prices might persist for a decade, he told Bloomberg.
If nothing else, prices are likely to fall, according to a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. report.
Citing the report, Bloomberg said iron ore prices could decline 30 percent over the next 18 months on growing supplies and declining steel production.
“Contrary to market consensus, we believe that peak-steel production will be followed by a contraction” in China, analysts Christian Lelong and Amber Cai wrote in the report, according to Bloomberg.
“Arguably, the yuan devaluation and the recent supply disruptions are what we consider a sideshow for the iron ore market,” the analysts wrote. “Supply growth will resume in the short term.”
Magnitogorsk Chief Financial Officer Sergey Sulimov told Bloomberg that ore prices might make a turn for the better if there is merger between major producers and some of the supply is taken out of the market. Absent that, low prices might persist for a decade, he told Bloomberg.
If nothing else, prices are likely to fall, according to a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. report.
Citing the report, Bloomberg said iron ore prices could decline 30 percent over the next 18 months on growing supplies and declining steel production.
“Contrary to market consensus, we believe that peak-steel production will be followed by a contraction” in China, analysts Christian Lelong and Amber Cai wrote in the report, according to Bloomberg.
“Arguably, the yuan devaluation and the recent supply disruptions are what we consider a sideshow for the iron ore market,” the analysts wrote. “Supply growth will resume in the short term.”
