hope dont lose it imo

Iron Ore :
* The clearest and most immediate indication as yet that curtailment of iron
ore imports is in train in China is carried in a report carried in
Xinhua.com online cover dated May 12.
Quoting the report:
* China will start to ban iron and steel processing trade on May 19, the
Ministry of Commerce told China Daily.
This means that processors in China will be prohibited from making goods for
overseas clients with imported iron ore, pig iron, steel scraps, billets or
ingots provided by overseas clients.
The iron and steel processing trade in China is now free from tariffs and
value added taxes on material imports and finished product exports.
* On April 1 China removed a 13 percent tax rebate for steel billet and
ingot exports.
* China slashed the tax rebate for exports of some steel products to 11
percent from 13 percent on May 1.
* China exported 5.19 million tons of steel products in the first quarter of
the year, up 210 percent on a year ago, statistics from the China Iron and
Steel Association showed.
* China's steel billet exports also surged up 971 percent year on year to
2.86 million tons during the same period.
The Xinhua quoted CITIC analyst Zhou Xizeng who said domestic steel demand
rose by 9.79 percent to 83.31 million tons in the first quarter while in the
previous corresponding period demand growth was 13 percent and in 2003 was
up 25.8 percent.
The steel association had predicted earlier that China's iron ore imports
would increase to 240 million tons this year from 208 million tons last year
despite a recent rise of 71.5 percent in international iron ore prices.
China has been the world's No 1 steel producer since 1996 with output this
year forecast to reach 300 million tons.