Iron slumps into bear market as Barclays sees further losses

Iron-ore’s descent into bear-market territory may herald further weakness, with Barclays pinning the blame for the slide on lower steel demand in China driving a shift from mills toward lower-quality ore and raising the prospect of a drop into the $50s. Ore with 62% content in Qingdao fell 1% to $74.71 a dry ton on Monday, according to Metal Bulletin, following a 6.8% drop on Friday that pushed the commodity into a bear market from a February peak. Earlier in Asia, futures in Dalian sank to the lowest since November, and those in Singapore traded below $72.