Iron ore has been dragged back into the $60s-range after getting hit by a barrage of bad news, with persistent concern about rising global supply, fresh questions about the outlook for demand in China, and a warning from Australia’s central bank that the top buyer may be nearing peak steel. The benchmark spot price for ore delivered to Qingdao slumped 10% in the past four days, ending at $68.85 a tonne on Tuesday, the lowest since July, says Metal Bulletin. The sell-off in the commodity, which hit almost $80 in August, took a breather on Wednesday as prices rebounded but remained below the $70 threshold. "As we get into the fourth quarter, we see demand in China pulling back, demand for steel pulling back," Paul Butterworth, research manager for steel raw materials at CRU International in Singapore, said. "It’s quite likely the steel mills will say ‘well, we’ve got sufficient material on hand at the moment, so we can withdraw from the market for now’." Iron ore is coming under press...
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