Commodities

Big iron ore is holding up today with RIO up half a percent, BHP down 1% (on oil) and FMG flat: Idiocy spreads are now closing again: And juniors dying: Dalian is up 6 points today at 376 as the iron ore restock rolls on.

Here are the iron ore charts for July 17, 2015: No update for spot or port stocks.

Big iron ore virtually unchanged today despite strong trade in London.

Brent oil remains under pressure falling to $57.05 as I write.

BHP, RIO and FMG are all manfully holding up today despite the market-shattering news that RIO is going to have to ship 50 million tonnes more iron ore over the second half than it did the first to reach its volume targets.

From the AFR: Atlas Iron will be hoping for a final flood of interest in its crucial $180 million equity raising, as lead manager Hartleys turns to fund managers to try and make up the shortfall that still stands at $105 million.

From RIO: Pilbara operations Production and shipments in the first half increased compared to last year despite unseasonal weather in the Pilbara throughout the first half, including Tropical Cyclones Olwyn and Quang.

Tianjin benchmark rose firmly yesterday 1.4% to $US50.10 presumably on better Chinese data, thoug Dalian slipped to 365.

Brent crude sank 3% last night to $57.19  as the reality of the Iran deal and a stronger US dollar overwhelmed all else.

Big iron ore weak today with BHP down 1.5% on big gas writeoffs, RIO flat and FMG down 2%: Idiocy spreads are still widening: Juniors are still dying:   Dalian is flat at 371.

Here are the iron ore charts for July 15, 2015: Qingdao spot down a little and Tianjin fell more down 1% to $49.40.

From BS, Bartho thinks so: Vale has some relatively high-cost production.

The big iron ore miners are all on a roll today with BHP and RIO oscillating around 3% gains and FMG up 5%.

From Capital Economics:  All the signs are that the four largest producers will continue to ramp up output (see Chart 4) in an effort to use higher volumes to offset lower values.

Here are the iron ore charts for July 13, 2015: The spot rebound is done with Qingdao up a bit and Tianjin benchmark unchanged at $49.90.

Brent oil settled at $58.19 overnight as premature Greek celebrations lifted prices from an earlier slump.

Big iron is holding its ground today as Shanghai continues its coerced rebound.

From the AFR: …the June quarter numbers about to be reported by energy companies will make the hit clear, with UBS forecasting June quarter LNG prices slumping as much as 35 per cent from the March quarter, despite a modest recovery in oil prices.

Here are the iron ore charts for July 10, 2015:    Qingdao spot rallied 2.3% to $50.10.

The Brent oil price settled virtually unchanged on Friday night at $58.59.

Big iron is riding the tiger’s tail today.

The iron panic is on.