LOL - totally agree, moony. Most here (not all!) are extremely parochial and even xenophobic. Australia is a big IO producer but just look at the following table (from steelhome) to see where China gets its IO from:
China Iron Ore Lumk Import by Country in November 2014 (http://en.steelhome.cn [SteelHome] 2014-12-24 15:39:00)
Quantity in tonne; Imports in November
Total 10908343
Australia 6448423
South Africa 1465050
Brazil 809926
Sierra Leone 565164
Iran 596723
Malaysia 104995.594
Burma 88338.62
Mongolia 298566.3
Mexico 1438.032
Peru 9129.501
Indonesia 0
Honduras 42840.028
Kazakhstan 59976
Laos 36000
Vietnam 45238.153
North Korea 40078.541
Turkey 66589.925
Venezuela 33257.49
Chile 69101.464
UAE 41301.359
Canada 66802.8
India 0
Mali 3559.936
Sudan 8919.633
Russia 6051.07
United States 871.306
Its not like the companies in the "other" countries are treading water! Yes, some are small, but collectively they account for a considerable supply.
Also, there is an (over) emphasis on supply growth. People forget the flip side: demand growth. In our major markets (China, Korea, Taiwan, but excluding Japan for now), steel demand growth (ie, IO demand growth) is roughly in line with GDP growth (usually a little less). Growth in China is targeted at 7.5%. A 7% growth in IO demand will see demand increase by about 70 million tonnes per year (just in China). This pretty much wipes out global excess supply in about one year. Sure, Roy Hill is coming on stream, but its unlikely that the big 3.5 will increase supply beyond their current plans. Your guess is as good as mine as to when the boom/bust cycle will repeat, but I am looking at mid 2016 for the next major price ramp.
