The price of iron ore, a key source of profits for some of the world’s biggest mining companies, has dropped below $50 a tonne on concerns about weak demand in China, the key consumer of the steelmaking ingredient.

铁矿石价格已跌破每吨50美元，因为这一炼钢原料的关键消费国——中国的需求疲软引起了担忧。铁矿石是世界一些最大矿业公司的一个关键利润来源。

Benchmark Australian ore for immediate delivery into China fell $2.00, or

对华即时交割的基准澳大利亚铁矿石的价格昨天下跌2美元（跌幅3.9%），至每吨49美元，为价格报告机构钢铁指数公司(The Steel Index)自2008年开始发布估价以来的最低值。

3.9 per cent, to $49 a tonne yesterday, the lowest level since The Steel Index, a price reporting agency, began publishing assessments in 2008.

2014年期间由于供应过剩加剧而暴跌近50%的铁矿石价格，今年迄今进一步下跌了30%，在过去三个交易日里跌去10%。

Iron ore, which plummeted almost

工银标准银行(ICBC Standard Bank)分析师梅林达•摩尔(Melinda Moore)表示，铁矿石价格最新跌势反映出对中国钢铁业健康状况的担忧，该行业连月来一直在“过量生产”，在为其产品寻找国内外买家方面相当费力。

50 per cent in 2014 because of growing supply glut, have fallen a further 30 per cent in the year to data and has sunk 10 per cent in the past three trading sessions.

“过去一周里，螺纹钢（一种在建筑中应用广泛的钢材）价格在金融市场上已跌去逾100元人民币，”摩尔表示，“铁矿石价格注定将随之下跌。”

Melinda Moore, analyst at ICBC Standard Bank, said the latest decline reflected concerns about the health of the Chinese steel industry, which has been “overproducing” for months and was struggling to find buyers for its products both domestically and overseas.

交易员们指出，含铁量达62%的澳大利亚铁矿石昨日Globalore交易平台上的价格为每吨48美元。

“Over the past week rebar [a steel product widely used in construction] has fallen more than Rmb100 on financial markets,” said Ms Moore. “Iron ore was bound to follow it down.”

随着季节性维修期结束，澳大利亚和巴西的供货量开始增加，摩尔表示，目前没有理由认为铁矿石价格已接近触底。

Traders noted that cargo of Australian ore with 62 per cent iron content had changed hands on the Globalore trading platform at $48 a tonne yesterday.

摩尔说：“供应压力、尤其是来自澳大利亚大型生产商的供应压力将继续上升，而需求增长可能持续疲软。”

With supply from Australia and Brazil picking up at the end of seasonal maintenance period, Ms Moore said there was no reason to think iron ore was close to bottoming.

德银(Deutsche Bank)预计，今年全球铁矿石需求将出现2009年以来的首次萎缩，并认为价格会在相当长时期内保持在40美元至45美元的水平，以达到市场平衡。

“Supply pressures will continue to mount, particularly from the large Australian producers, while demand growth is likely to remain anaemic,” she said.

“需求低于预期意味着，需要进一步削减供应，”德银在本周发布的一份报告中表示。

Deutsche Bank expects global demand for iron ore to shrink this year for the first time since 2009 and reckons prices will have to remain between $40 and $45 a tonne for an extended period to balance the market.

世界三大铁矿石生产商——必和必拓(BHP Billiton)、力拓(Rio Tinno)和淡水河谷(Vale)——正在积极扩大生产能力，押注自己的低成本供应将挤掉中国和其他地区的高成本生产商。

“Weaker than expected demand simply means that more supply cuts are needed,” Deutsche said in a report published earlier this week

分析师们表示，尽管已有一部分供应被挤出市场，但还需要关停更多铁矿。

BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Vale — the big three iron ore miners — are aggressively expanding production capacity, betting their low-cost supply will displace high-cost producers in China and elsewhere.