Iron Ore

Steel industry consultant MEPS notes strong steel prices should continue into September but will weaken into the end of the year and the early part of 2009.

In a little over twelve months, life as we know it has changed dramatically. Financial markets are in crisis, the global economy is staring at recession, and now the commodity super-cycle has faltered. What lies ahead?

The company may no longer be a takeover target but a better than expected production report has led to some upgrades for Macarthur Coal, both ABN Amro and UBS seeing value at current levels.

Investors have been expecting ongoing shortages of coal, and thus further price rises, for years to come. New insights by GaveKal say reality may turn out to be different.

Sick of scrambling to secure raw materials from tight supplies, South Korea announced it would triple stockpiles.

With the chance the US dollar will weaken further after the Fed left rates on hold ANZ sees scope for some profit taking among commodities this week, though any downside is expected to be limited.

QMastor is a small company doing big things in mining logistics software.

One broker argues that BHP will need to move quickly to secure Rio before the world wakes up to the value of long-life resource assets. How much is Rio really worth? And, for that matter, BHP?

ANZ Bank suggests signs the US dollar is bottoming implies commodity prices may trend lower in the short and medium-term. Any falls are believed unlikely to be significant.

Australia’s iron ore producers are set to enjoy a boom – not just due to Chinese demand, but due to the higher price of oil.