Real estate won’t be supporting Chinese steel demand much longer

Another interesting view from FT Alphaville's Kate

Something is up with China’s steel production. It reached record levels in March, driving up expectations of rising coking coal and iron ore prices. As the FTand Reuters have reported, there are accounts of both thermal coal and iron ore shipments being deferred or even defaulted on, and prices of both commodities have fallen 12 per cent since the beginning of April. To an extent, China’s steel production growth has also slowed: April’s production only increased 1.9 per cent compared to a year earlier, versus March’s rate of 2.5 per cent compared to a year previous.

http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2012/05/22/1009551/real-estate-wont-be-supporting-chinese-steel-demand-much-longer/