imho china and co really have no choice but to forge some sort...

imho china and co really have no choice but to forge some sort of relationships with other viable suppliers or better still directly invest in them so they have more of a say.

japan, india and china are all terrified of vale, rio and bhp's market power and they are doing everything they can think of to try and reduce the control they have over them.

i suspect companies like fmg will be big winners out of this as china inc has massive cash reserves but is having trouble finding a home for it in companies that they want in the resource sector, at least they do at the levels they are trying to achieve.

sure commodity prices have dropped, like everything else but there is always a demand for base metals as its a staple of industry and if you want major shipments on a regular basis you need a supplier that can deliver. I expect to see fmg ramp up production pretty hard in the next 24 months but fmg alone is not enough to satisfy china, japan and indias craving for IO so the real question is who is china and co going to back in the up and coming area of IO , will it be a company like SDL ?

I wish i knew the answer but i am willing to bet that SDL will get up and be an earner in the medium term because with backers like Ken they will have access to the connections and mamagement team required to get it out of the ground as long as they can finance it...which is where someone like china comes in.

ps: this is my limited opinion only , please dyor.