Australian iron ore producers do not engage in "dumping" their products and Australian producers do not sell iron ore in global markets at lower prices than in Australia, the Minerals Council of Australia told the Global Times on Wednesday.
"We are surprised at reports that elements of the iron ore sector in China have urged the initiation of -anti-dumping actions against Australia and Brazil," Brendan Pearson, chief executive of the Minerals Council of Australia, said in an e-mail to the Global Times on Wednesday. "The proposal is unlikely to proceed to an actual complaint and even less likely to succeed."
The comments were made after the Metallurgical Mines Association of China (MMAC), which represents about 20 large and medium-sized mining companies in China, petitioned the Ministry of Commerce to open anti-dumping investigations into imports from Australia and Brazil, according to a post on the MMAC's website on Tuesday.
The Global Times couldn't reach the MMAC for comment as of press time on Wednesday.
The MMAC pointed out that China has been increasing imports of iron ore because foreign sources are much cheaper than domestic ones, the post said.
The three top ore producers - Vale of Brazil, Rio Tinto Group and BHP Billiton - have allegedly been engaged in dumping measures to gain market share.
Australia's iron ore is traded in an open and fiercely competitive world market, Pearson emphasized in the e-mail.
China is Australia's largest market for iron ore. China imported $42 billion worth of iron ore from 2014 to 2015, accounting for 77 percent of Australia's revenue from iron ore exports, Pearson said.
Both Vale of Brazil and BHP Billiton told the Global Times on Wednesday that they didn't want to comment on this -issue.
