China readies iron ore and steel for war

Sunday 19 May 2024

The mystery for iron ore traders is not why the price is $100 or $120. It is why the price is not at $50 and falling.

Iron ore is pumping out of every major country, jurisdiction, and mine against a backdrop of the greatest steel demand crisis in history.

This was clear again in Chinese data released over the weekend. Sales, starts, and completions in property have gone utterly to hell:

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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.