Interestiong to hear that David Harlee is back in Dubai so soon...

Interestiong to hear that David Harlee is back in Dubai so soon after his recent trip?

It makes sense that companies from the Middle East would be keen to secure a consisent supply of Zircon considering the China Stimulous package is targeting infrastructure and in particular the housing industry:

"The government said the package will benefit 7.5 million low-income urban families and 2.4 million households in shantytowns in the next three years. Rural homes in dangerous condition will also be renovated.

To boost home buying, the government will now allow people with "smaller-than-average" apartments to buy a second apartment under favorable loan terms. Size limits are different in every city.

The move was really significant for the sector's development and helpful to counter the industry downturn, said Gu Yunchang, official with Ministry of Housing and Urban-rural Development.

Property prices in 70 major Chinese cities rose 0.2 percent in November from a year earlier. The growth rate was the lowest since the government started to publish the figure in July, 2005.

A total of 2.7 trillion yuan (387.5 billion U.S. dollars) was pumped into real estate development nationwide in the first 11 months of the year, up 22.7 percent year-on-year. However, the growth rate was 1.9 percentage points lower than the January-October level.

Between January and November, total sales were 490 million sq m, down 18.3 percent year-on-year. Residential sales fell 18.8 percent.

Gu expected the sector to start reviving in the second half of 2009 after the impacts of boosting measures.

After the State Council statement, the People's Bank of China, the central bank, and China Banking Regulatory Commission, jointly announced new rules on lending to developers of low-rent housing. These developers could enjoy a lower lending rate, 10 percent down from the current benchmark lending rate."

http://au.china-embassy.org/eng/zggk/zz/t526668.htm

ILU recently announced that zircon sales and demand was down- IMO this is only temporary and it won't be long IMO before their is another significant supply deficit?

JB