Did somebody say Chinese hard landing? Seriously
folks, you've probably heard the term "Dr. Copper" to describe
copper's role in serving as a good bellweather of the global economy. But all the buzz these days, according to businessinsider, is about iron
ore, a key ingredient in steel.
This morning, a hedge fund manager in Europe sent us this
chart of front month iron ore futures over the last couple of years. Included with the chart he sent this nice,
quick overview:
Iron ore is second biggest commodity traded internationally
by volume (after oil). It is the main ingredient in the production of steel.
China is by far the worlds #1 producer of steel and importer of iron ore (over
60% of seaborne ore goes to China).
While Wall Street focuses on Oil, Natural Gas, Copper etc.,
Iron ore is a huge commodity that is highly reliant on Chinese demand. While most other commodities are recovering
from their lows Iron Ore is crashing.
The spot peaked this year at around $150/ton in April (highs close to 190 last year). The spot now
is around $105 per ton and falling fast and the futures (now fairly liquid and
traded internationally) are pricing q4 below $95/ton....
Read more:
http://www.businessinsider.com/iron-ore-futures-2012-8#ixzz24HLBJF7t
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