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Mar 2012 - Year End & China

  • As the Wall Street Journal commented on 6 March 2011, "Canadian stocks posted a sharp loss on Tuesday as concerns over the global economic outlook weighed down markets, and worries about resources demand from China pushed down prices of commodities producers....index slumped 4% (-4.3%)...copper producers fell amid concerns about demand from China after it lowered its growth projection to 7.5% from 8% on Monday 5 March 2011" (China's Premier Wen Jiabao stated that a level of 7.5% was more sustainable and efficient). And again on the morning of 21 March 2012,"....stocks decline on China growth concerns...".
  • The economists must be cheering "at last !, China is (appears to be) showing signs of slowing down". After they first predicted it to occur in April 2004, following China's reduced target of 7%pa in mid-March 2004, resulting in commodity prices falling - whereas the growth rate has often been ~10%pa since then.
  • So it should be recognised that 7.5% is still a target, and hence may not be achieved. The reality is that China is being rebuilt, and a vast number of its citizens are becoming increasingly wealthy. At the China Mining Conference in November 2011, it was very clear that China appears likely to continue to fuel the commodities boom for at least the next 10 years, but does not want to pay high commodity prices, and will try and pay lower prices any way it can. We (ERA) thought that it may take ~2 years before the market begins to gloss over possible "sabre-rattling" by China trying to reduce commodity prices (it took ~2 years for the market to realise that there were no significant Russian gold or platinum stockpiles).
  • In the Equatorial Resources presentation that was made to the Sydney Mining Club on 1 March 2012, an ambitious quote was given by Wu Xichun of the China Iron & Steel Association that "By 2015, China wants to import 50% of its iron ore from Chinese owned mines elsewhere in the world".

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Mar 2012 - Year End & China Review

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  • Written by: Keith Goode
  • Wednesday, 21 March 2012