China’s iron ore demand not an issue for next decade, Agnelli says

Iron ore demand in the Chinese market will not be an issue for the next 10 years, former Vale ceo Roger Agnelli said on Thursday July 12 during a press conference in São Paulo, Brazil.

Paragraph entered by Atlantic migration, in order for SteelFirst articles to display correctly on Metal Bulletin.

“We are currently experiencing a market adjustment on the back of the commissioning of new mining capacities, which is normal for the long iron ore cycle,” he said.

He believes the current market slowdown reflects a financial crisis, mainly in Europe, and not a crunch in the mineral resources sector.

Agnelli is now chairman of B&A Mineração, a joint venture between his investment firm AGN Participações and Brazilian investment bank BTG Pactual with a focus on developing iron ore, copper and fertiliser projects in Latin America and Africa.

He sees a growing demand for iron ore in the near-term, driven not only by China, but also by other Asian countries and emerging economies.

Asia will strongly invest in infrastructure projects in the coming years as part of its urbanisation process, while emerging countries will continue to have a healthy demand for mineral resources to keep their growth pace, he said.

“Around 10,000 new cities will be built by 2050,” he added.

Agnelli left Vale in 2011 after serving 10 years as its ceo.

What to read next
The US-Ukraine mineral partnership deal has stalled due to security concerns, leaving future negotiations uncertain despite Ukraine's critical role in global mineral supplies. Meanwhile, President Trump has imposed tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China and launched a copper import investigation to address national security risks and reduce reliance on foreign resources.
Trump’s tariffs on Canadian and Mexican metals have introduced significant instability to the U.S. metals sector. The 25% tariffs, coupled with retaliatory measures from Canada and Mexico, have fuelled price volatility, supply chain disruptions, and operational uncertainty across multiple industries. These trade policies are reshaping global market dynamics as stakeholders brace for long-term impacts on steel, aluminium, copper, and other metal commodities.
The following prices were affected:MB-CU-0361 Copper import arbitrage, $ per tonneMB-CU-0362 Copper import arbitrage, yuan per tonneMB-NI-0106 Nickel import arbitrage, $ per tonneMB-NI-0107 Nickel import arbitrage, yuan per tonneMB-ZN-0083 Zinc import arbitrage, $ per tonneMB-ZN-0084 Zinc import arbitrage, yuan per tonneMB-AL-0289 Aluminium import arbitrage, $ per tonneMB-AL-0290 Aluminium import arbitrage, yuan per tonne These prices are part of the Fastmarkets base metals package. […]
Presenters shared insights into zinc market dynamics at the International Zinc Association’s (IZA) International Zinc and Zinc Oxide conference held February 23-26 in San Diego.
Fastmarkets has corrected the rationale for its MB-NIO-0004 Nickel mixed hydroxide precipitate payable indicator, % London Metal Exchange, cif China, Japan and South Korea that was published incorrectly on Wednesday February 26. The rationale mistakenly stated that the nickel mixed hydroxide precipitate payable indicator was unchanged on February 26 when it had widened upward. The […]
The rationale was missing the backwardation data on Monday. The following line has been added to the rationale for MB-AL-0020 aluminium P1020A premium, ddp Midwest US: “The LME C/3M spread was trading at a $8.25/t backwardation at the time of assessment on Monday, compared to a $8.00/t backwardation on Friday.” The published price is unaffected by this […]