India will be the new engine of global demand for raw materials

Steel and iron ore demand in India will not follow the same fast upward trend that has characterized the growth of industrial production in China. After the Chinese economy has settled down to GDP growth of around 4-6 percent a year, India is the next major economic driver for global commodity demand.

"India is the next lever in the history of supply and demand, but it is not going to be a hyperdrive," said Tom Albanese, who previously headed mining firm Rio Tinto. "China's economic industrialization has progressed at an unprecedented rate, driven by a government driven by growth as a top priority." ...

Albanese suggested that prices for steel, iron ore and other metals would “continue to be much lower than they were five years ago” because China “is now in a post-industrial phase,” while other emerging economies such like India are not yet ready to fill this demand gap. But the fundamentals of growth remain the same: steel is a major building block in the industrializing economy, he said.