铁矿石现货价格跌至5年低点

A lack of demand for physical cargoes has seen the price of iron ore hit a five-year low.

需求不足导致现货铁矿石价格跌至5年低点。

Benchmark Australia ore for immediate delivery into China fell $1.10 to $76 a tonne on Wednesday, the lowest level since June 2009.

周三，即期中国到岸澳大利亚基准铁矿石价格下跌1.10美元，至76美元/吨，为2009年6月以来的最低水平。

The steelmaking commodity has declined more than 40 per cent this year as supply from the world’s biggest producers – BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Vale – has overwhelmed demand growth, which has started to weaken.

今年以来，铁矿石价格累计降幅超过40%，这是因为世界三大铁矿石生产商——必和必拓(BHP Billiton)、力拓(Rio Tinto)和淡水河谷(Vale)的供应大幅超过需求增长。全球铁矿石需求增长已开始疲软。

Traders said no deals were done on spot market trading platforms on Wednesday, with Chinese steel mills and traders content to wait for further declines.

交易员表示，周三现货交易平台上没有达成一宗交易，因为中国的钢铁企业和交易商都在坐等价格进一步下跌。

The closure of steel mills near Beijing ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) conference this week has been blamed by many commentators for lack of interest in physical cargoes.

在本周亚太经合组织(Apec)会议召开之前，北京周边的钢铁厂被暂时停工，许多评论人士认为这是铁矿石现货无人问津的原因。

China is the world’s biggest consumer of seaborne iron ore, accounting for about two-thirds of global demand However, Melinda Moore, analyst at Standard Bank, said seasonality was also playing its part.

中国是全球最大的海运铁矿石消费国，约占全球需求量的三分之二。然而，标准银行(Standard Bank)分析师梅林达•摩尔(Melinda Moore)说，季节性因素也在发挥作用。

As temperatures across northern China start to drop, so does construction and, in turn, demand for iron ore.

随着中国北方开始降温，建筑活动在放缓，进而铁矿石需求也在减少。

Ms Moore said data from the China Iron and Steel Association showed average daily crude steel output of large and medium-sized mills had fallen 7.5 per cent in the past 10 days of October ahead of the winter slowdown, while inventories were down almost 10 per cent to 14.1m tonnes.

摩尔说，中国钢铁工业协会(CISA)数据显示，在冬季放缓之前的10月下旬，中国大中型钢铁企业的日均粗钢产量已下跌了7.5%，而存货量减少近10%，至1410万吨。