Iron Ore’s Four-Year Slide Hitting Mining Earnings: Commodities

Iron ore is set for the first four-year drop since at least 1982 as supplies surge, threatening to end record earnings at Vale SA, Rio Tinto Group and BHP Billiton Ltd., the world´s biggest producers.

Global prices may fall 29 percent to an average $123 a metric ton in 2015 from a record $173 this year, according to the median estimates of 10 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. The decline contrasts with estimates for little change in copper and a 10 percent increase for aluminum in the same period, London Metal Exchange futures prices show.