Thats what I 'd read from other sources- Chinas or

Thats what I 'd read from other sources- Chinas ore is so poor-some mines as low as 4% ore and some underground-so that really raises chinas cost of production-which oddly in this area cannot compete w non-Chinese miners. I've said before that agmetalminer said 12-13-10 that chinese [marginal] cost of production was 150/ton [the more expensive iron mines in china]and thus 150 should be new floor they said.

But steelmakers inventories became so bloated in summer that hardly anybody was buying so iron producers who were desperate for cash flow sold anyway-pushing price down.

"Spot prices of $90-$100/t in 2008 had half of China’s iron ore industry running at a loss, notes Raw Materials Group. Their cost today is between $80-$170/t.

For comparison, it costs BHP and Rio between $40-$50/t to land ore in China. Chinese ore output could fall from last year’s 320m tonnes to 120m-200m in 2020, RMG estimates.

Neither is the outlook for China's mines getting any better. The iron content of domestic ore currently stands at only 20%, down significantly from 30% in 2004 and on its way to 15% according to research by investment bank Standard Chartered."