(外媒）Sesa Goa 计划在第一季度生产700至800万吨的铁矿石

  简述：路透讯，印度最大的铁矿石出口企业SesaGoaLtd.计划在第一季度生产700至800万吨的铁矿石，这批铁矿石主要流向是中国市场。公司总经理PrasunKumar在电话会议上表示，来自中国的需求十分旺盛。

  Sesa Goa Ltd., India’s biggest iron- ore exporter, plans to mine between 7 million to 8 million metric tons of the steelmaking ingredient in the three months to March 31, most of which will be exported to China.

“There is strong demand from China,” Managing Director Prasun Kumar Mukherjee said in a conference call today.

Sesa Goa, a unit of Vedanta Resources Plc, exports a majority of its production to steelmakers in China and Japan. China, the world’s largest buyer of iron ore, increased imports last year by 42 percent to a record 628 million metric tons. China’s imports may climb 5.1 percent to 660 million tons this year, Custeel.com analyst Du Wei said last week.

The Panaji, Goa-based company’s shares fell 0.9 percent to 406.15 rupees at close of trading in Mumbai.

“The shares look expensive at current prices and there is not much upside from here,” said Sumeet Singhania, assistant vice president at Antique Stock Broking Ltd. in Mumbai, who has a “sell’ recommendation on the stock. “If spot iron ore prices rise further mining in China will become profitable, which will affect Sesa’s exports.”

Sesa Goa sold about 67 percent of its iron ore output in the cash market and the rest on long-term agreements in the quarter ended Dec. 31. An increase in cash prices and demand from China pushed up third-quarter profit by 76 percent.

‘Panic Buying’

Cash prices of 62 percent iron-content ore delivered to Tianjin port in China reached the highest in at least 13 months on Jan. 8, according to the Steel Index. Prices had jumped amid “panic buying” by Chinese mills concerned about the availability of cargoes from Australia, Goldman Sachs JBWere Pty. said.

Sesa Goa plans to spend about 15 billion rupees to raise iron ore mining capacity to 50 million tons over two to three years, Mukherjee said in the call today.

After completing the expansion, Sesa Goa’s output in its home state will touch 30 million tons, while its capacity in the southern state of Karnataka and eastern state of Orissa will reach 10 million tons each, he said. (bloomberg)