Africa may turn major iron ore exporter after 2020

Africa, regarded as the next iron ore frontier, is only likely to boost global supply from 2020 and only if countries overcome iprocess of making minerals powder industrynfrastructure and political hurdles, analysts and producers said this week. The market for iron ore, used in stainless steel production, is the second biggest commodity trading market in the world, valued at some $150 billion, said Phillip Killicoat, iron ore manager at Credit Suisse commodities.

Of that, Africa accounts for only about 2 percent, although it holds some 20 percent of the world's resources, he said. "Africa has enormous potential, never mind the fact that the iron industry itself is growing at a rate even faster than global GDP, driven primarily by East Asia," Killicoat told an African iron ore conference in Cape Town. Steel demand, spurred by China's economic growth, has recovered more than anticipated in 2010, with future growth expected to be powered by emerging markets to 2015 and beyond...