Iron Ore Tumbles Back Toward $60s

  • Price drop seen driven by decline in China mills’ profitabilty
  • Producers ‘starting to replace high-quality ore,’ analyst says
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Iron ore’s in the firing line. Futures sank by the most this year as steelmakers in China facing a decline in profitability switch back to using more lower-grade material, cutting into demand for higher-quality ore, according to China Merchants Futures Co.

In Singapore, the most-active SGX AsiaClear contract lost as much as 4.4 percent to $71.24 a metric ton, the biggest drop since December, and traded at $71.94 by 5:13 p.m. On the Dalian Commodity Exchange, futures tumbled 3.5 percent to the lowest close in more than three weeks.