Bearish Outlook--Iron-ore heads for longest bear market in 20 years

摘要

Iron-ore, the commodity most leveraged to China's growth and Australia's biggest export earner, is heading for the longest bear market in 20 years.Vale, Rio Tinto Group and BHP Billiton, which control about two-thirds of seaborne iron-ore supply, are spending about $47-billion on new and bigger iron-ore mines from Brazil to Australia. The new cargoes are set to reach the global market just as China changes gear to lower growth expectations, following what may become its weakest performance since 1990."We're already seeing the beginning of the end of the first phase of economic development in China," Alberto Calderon, chief commercial officer of Melbourne-based BHP Billiton, which is spending about $l-billion a month on its iron-ore mines in Australia, said last month. "The pace of demand for iron-ore from China has slowed down by more than half."