Port Hedland iron ore slumps

Wednesday, 4 November 2015

This is a bit of a surprise. October iron ore shipments from Port Hedland fell by 7% to 36.5 million tonnes:

China’s share eased also:

My working assumption currently is that it is the RIO ramp up at Cape Lambert that is driving the current glut so this is not inconsistent with wider conditions. Admittedly it could also be suggesting a buyer’s strike and if so then prices could stabilise sooner than I expect. Even so, it shows how much spare capacity there is right now.

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About the author

David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal. He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.