Advertisement
Spot down. SGX down. Thermal through the roof for no reason except Cyclone Debbie which does not impact it. Coking coal spot also rocketed 15% to $175.70, an 11-week high. Chinese markets were closed.
The question now is do steel mills destock iron ore to offset the brief rise in coal prices or do they buy? If it is the former, which happened yesterday, then look out below. That would be a big bearish swing from the habits of the past year.
In news, thoughts go out to the families of the lost sailors on the iron ore bulker Stellar Daisy:
Advertisement
The full text of this article is available to MacroBusiness subscribers
Cancel at any time through our billing provider, Stripe
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.
Advertisement