Walsh later told reporters Japan's disaster could set back some of Rio Tinto's expansion plans if access to mining equipment, such as heavy machinery and truck tyres, became difficult.

Fortescue, for its part, said its expansion plans were on track as it buys very little mining equipment from Japan. [ID:nS9E7E800E]

Until recently, Japan was the largest buyer of Australian ore, but has been supplanted by China.

Walsh painted a bright future for iron ore producers, saying the outlook warranted spending billions of dollars to expand mines in Australia and build new ones in Africa and India.

The company's Simandou iron ore mine project in Guinea -- touted by Rio Tinto as the single largest iron ore mine -- would be developed ahead of the current end-2015 target date if infrastructure restraints such as rail line construction could be overcome, according to Walsh.

The mine will have capacity to yield about 95 million tonnes of iron ore a year, he said. Countering Walsh's positive outlook, Citibank analyst Daniel Hynes forecast the global iron ore market was headed for oversupply over the next few years and would see a 100-million tonne surplus by 2015.

Eoin Treacy's view The aftermath of the Japanese tsunami is still being worked through but some winners and losers are emerging. The one certainty is that Japan will rebuild. Construction companies (see yesterday's Comment of the Day) should benefit from this crisis provided they can source the necessary materials and ensure a reliable supply of electricity. Coal exporters should also benefit through increased demand from coal fired power stations as well as steel production. LNG shippers should also benefit for the former reason.

Iron-ore companies have had a mixed reaction to the crisis. On the one hand they fell due to concerns about the impact on global growth and potential machinery supply problems. On the other hand, they have steadied recently as investors begin to price in increased demand for steel.

Over the course of the last decade iron-ore miners have so far been careful to limit supply and have managed to ensure that prices remain on an upward trajectory. While a number of smaller companies have entered the sector over the last few years, their impact has not yet been such that they have affected the price structure for the commodity by any discernable margin. This would suggest that the iron-ore market is likely to remain tight over the short to medium term provided the global economy continues to grow.

CVRD, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto all hit medium-term peaks late last year and have pulled back to test their 200-day MAs. They found at least short-term support in the region of the MA last week but need to continue to hold in this region if the medium-term upside is to continue to be given the benefit of the doubt. Fortescue Metals, Kumba Iron Ore, Ferrexpo and Cliffs Natural Resources share similar patterns.

Sesa Goa, India's largest iron-ore miner, remains in a medium-term downtrend. The next area of potential support is near INR200 but it will need to sustain a move above INR350 to question potential for a further test of underlying trading. MMX Mineracao e Metalicos has been largely rangebound since early 2010 and is currently retesting the lower side. A sustained move above MXN11 would indicate a return to demand dominance