Foreign media reported on September 19 that it is reported that Rio Tinto Group, the world's second largest iron ore producer, believes that China's steel consumption is close to peaking, and next year's demand may be similar to that in 2023.

China's demand for iron ore, the main raw material for steelmaking, has increased in recent months, as some bright spots in the Chinese economy have helped offset weaker demand in key real estate sectors.

However, Jakob Stausholm, chief executive of Rio Tinto Group, said the rapid growth in steel consumption over the past 20 years may be coming to an end.

In an interview at Bloomberg headquarters in New York, he said: "We expect that China's steel demand is about to peak." "Not because China's economy is not growing, but because it has matured."

The industry generally believes that after years of rapid growth, China's steel market will shrink this decade. Rio Tinto's rival BHP Group estimates that Rio Tinto's annual production has reached a stable level of just over 1 billion tonnes a year and will continue to do so until 2024. Capital Economics Ltd. of analysts say supply and demand could peak in 2020.

Iron ore prices hit their highest level since April last week and have largely remained above the $100 per tonne mark so far this year. Despite waves of worrying news coming out of the real estate sector, in more typical years, real estate accounts for around 40% of demand.