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http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Vale-sees-iron-ore-above-150T-next-5-years-FT-JJ4TH?OpenDocument&src=hp9

Vale sees iron ore rising over $US150 a tonne

Published 12:53 PM, 7 Jul 2011 Last update 12:54 PM, 7 Jul 2011

Reuters

SINGAPORE - Brazil's Vale, the world's top iron ore miner, expects prices of the steelmaking raw material to remain above $US150 a tonne for at least the next five years on tight global supplies, the Financial Times reported.

Guilherme Cavalcanti, Vale's chief financial officer, said miners would struggle to meet booming Asian demand, according to the newspaper.

Spot iron ore prices are trading near $US170 a tonne, slightly above three-month lows hit last month as steel demand in top buyer China normally slows during the seasonally weak summer season.

But Mr Cavalcanti told Reuters earlier this week that Vale expects iron ore demand to pick up and for prices to stabilise for the rest of the year with the worst of the monetary tightening campaign in China already done.

China on Wednesday raised interest rates for a third time this year but analysts think Beijing was close to, or even at the end, of a cycle of rate rises.