Mixed signals from the bulks

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the news that China is not building apartments on the moon did not prevent a solid rally in iron ore spot and 12 month futures overnight. Both up almost 2% (white and yellow lines):

However, as you can see, nobody actually in the Chinese steel markets seems to have gotten the AFR memo about imminent moon construction and Shanghai rebar has continued to fall. As has thermal coal, though its weakness is certainly related in some fashion to market specific issues such as rising supply. This should inject some caution into thoughts of whether or not the iron ore rally is sustainable.

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.