Overall outlook for iron ore consumption and trade continues to look bright even as Chinese demand for the raw commodity may wither in the next years.

Quoting a research by mineral economists and analysts at Raw Materials Group, Investors Chronicle said demand for iron ore worldwide will double to 3.5 billion tonnes annually by 2030, driven by the slow yet consistent demand from China, the biggest importer of the steel making ingredient. An escalating domestic demand from India will also anchor this iron ore momentum, the research further noted.

Brazilian mining company Vale SA echoed this observation on Tuesday, after the world's second largest economy posted a 6 per cent increase in iron ore consumption in the first quarter of 2012. Month-on-month this year, however, China's iron ore imports fell 3 per cent in March from February to 62.9 million tonnes. Imports of other major commodities like oil and copper likewise dropped.

"It's probable that China's economic growth may decelerate but the country's impact will be even more important on world trade in future, due to the high base on which growth rates are now calculated," MarketWatch quoted Murilo Ferreira, Vale Chief Executive Officer, as saying in an event presentation in Rio de Janeiro.

China's demand continues strong, the world's biggest iron-ore producing and exporting company said.

From an annual economic growth of 10.6 per cent between 2002 and 2011, China's annual growth rate between 2012 and 2021 may slide to 7 per cent. Albeit low, but still decent, Ferreira pointed out in the presentation.

"Those who have been betting against Chinese growth since the 1990s will be wrong again," Reuters quoted Ferreira as saying. "China is just getting going."

Ferreira remained optimistic China will continue to depend on iron ore imports from Brazil and Australia mainly because it has little high-quality ore of its own.

"China every day needs us more and more," he said.