, Columnist
China Has Another Reason to Wear Face Masks
The narrowing spread between two varieties of iron ore is flashing a pollution warning signal.
Face it.
Photographer: Justin Chin/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
If residents of China’s steel belt want to know whether to strap on face masks and avoid outdoor exercise, they could do worse than look to the iron ore price.
That’s because the spread between two varieties of rust often works as a proxy for the amount of choking particulates spewed out by the country’s steel mills. Right now, the narrowing of the differential to its tightest in more than three years is flashing a pollution warning signal.