Iron ore price

The AFR‘s Angus Grigg has a piece today that may seem a little behind the times but it’s not: China faces three major problems and overcoming any of them will be negative for iron ore.

Gina’s folks are putting on a brave face.

And so, our wild ride goes on.

A quick update to key iron ore paper markets.

Mac Bank has a nice little note today derived from an interview with a Glencore iron ore trader.

The AFR has a nice scoop this morning of Chinese authorities directly targeting steel mills via tight credit: Chinese authorities plan to cut off credit to inefficient steel mills and force some to close, raising the prospect of weaker demand for iron ore this year.

Major iron ore stocks are still levitating today with FMG down half a percent and RIO up half.

The FT has a little note explaining the sensitivity of miners to iron ore rice movements: Every time iron ore prices move by one dollar a tonne, it means another $120m on – or off – this year’s post-tax net profit at BHP Billiton, the world’s third-largest producer of the metal.

Here are the iron ore charts for March 10, 2014: No need to adjust your television set.

It takes a certain kind genius to be this profoundly inaccurate with such unfailing regularity.

Below find a piece I wrote for Crikey this morning on China’s “war of steel”.

Markets are not enjoying the China data.

From NineMSN and the Motley Fool: There’s still every chance that an iron ore price plunge could happen this year, however I doubt that share prices will fall as heavily as they did in 2012 and 2013.

The Friday default of a tiny corporate bond in China appears to have triggered larger ripples for commodity markets.

Find below the iron ore charts for March 7, 2014: In paper markets, 12 month swaps smashed any support level and are in free-fall.

By Leith van Onselen Here’s something that I never thought that I’d see.

It’s no secret that most sell-side analysts see Fortescue Metals as a buy.

Well, you learn something every day. Australia does have a big stake in what happens in the Ukraine after all. It turns out that it is a substantial iron ore exporter. From Credit Suisse: In 2013 Ukraine exported 38 Mt of iron ore (Exhibit 20), of which 45% was shipped toChina (Exhibit 21).

Daily iron ore charts for February 6, 2014 below: Rebar futures broke support are headed further down.

The argument that Chinese steel output is at its peak gets some heavy-duty support today from Reuters: Zhang Wuzong, delegate at the National People’s Congress (NPC) and chairman of private steelmaker Shandong Shiheng Special Steel said there was no room for further expansion.