Lacklustre Chinese demand drives iron-ore prices to 5-year low

Benchmark iron-ore prices, which had fallen by more than one-third since the start of the year, last week breached the $90/t level and continued to spiral lower to 86.2/t on Monday, as a supply glut faces reduced demand growth from the commodity’s largest consumer, China. London-based fund manager SP Angel on Tuesday in a note to clients said Chinese iron-ore consumption was expected to rise by 3% to 5%, noting that the actual rate of consumption could in fact be closer to zero.