China imported iron ore stockpiles at 16-month high

Jordan is not an adequate alternative homeland for the Palestinians, the Palestinian presidency said on Monday, according to the state-run Wafa news agency. "Jordan is Jordan and Palestine is Palestine, nothing but that, " Nabil Abu Rdeneh, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was quoted as saying. Abu Rdeneh's comments came after King Abdullah II of Jordan on Sunday said the idea that his country could be an alternative home for the Palestinians "illusive." The alternative homeland is a popular idea among some Israelis who suggest that Jordan be used as a homeland for the Palestinians. The idea has recently raised a wide-ranging debate in Jordan. The idea has always been opposed y both Jordanian and Palestinian governments, which agree that peace can only be made according to a two-state solution, with East Jerusalem as the capital of the future Palestinian state, the official added. Jordan, a main player in the current U.S.-brokered peace talks, which resumed last July, has embraced some two million Palestinian refugees. The idea of the alternative homeland deprives them of the right to return to their original homes. Stockpiles of imported iron ore at 25 major Chinese ports surged last week to the highest level in 16 months due to flagging demand, according to new data released Tuesday. At the end of the Feb. 18 to Feb. 24 period, inventories of imported iron ore exceeded 100 million tonnes for the first time since October 2012, reaching 100.34 million tonnes, up 0.41 percent from a week earlier, according to a Xinhua-China Iron Ore Index report. This is the second week in a row for imported iron ore stockpiles to surge. The index, compiled through research and analysis of 25 sea ports, showed that the price index for iron ore imports with a 62-percent purity grade dropped 2 points from the previous week to 120. The index for imports with 58-percent purity dropped 2 points to 108. The report said prices for imported iron ore rose in the beginning of the week amid rising steel billet prices, but prices dropped after the middle of the week because of weak market demand. It forecast that there will be small fluctuations in imported iron ore prices next week and flagging demand will continue in the short term.