Steel production in China, the world’s biggest supplier, will probably contract this year and shrink further in 2017 as local demand slows, hurting the outlook for iron-ore, according to Li Xinchuang, a vicechairperson at the China Iron & Steel Association. “There will be significant declines in the next three months,” said Li, who’s also dean of the China Metallurgical Industry Planning & Research Institute. “If steel consumption and production are set to decline, then there’ll definitely be less demand for iron-ore,” Li said in a phone interview on Wednesday.
