Rio Tinto warns Omicron may hit top export iron ore as WA reopens

“Though iron ore costs have offered the shares some solace in current weeks, we proceed to see a difficult outlook for iron ore over the course of 2022,” Royal Financial institution of Canada analyst Kaan Peker mentioned.

Iron ore, which steel-makers warmth with coal at excessive temperatures to churn out liquid metallic, is Australia’s largest export, accounting for a file $150 billion in 2021.

In the course of the yr, the worth of iron ore rallied to an unprecedented $US230 a tonne, underpinned by an aggressive infrastructure-focused constructing blitz in China, which fuelled monumental demand for metal similtaneously drawn-out provide disruptions dragged on iron ore mines in Brazil. The increase delivered big earnings and bumper dividends for shareholders of high Australian miners BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue, and helped bolster the nation’s funds through the depths of the COVID-19 disaster.

Nevertheless, the iron ore value fell sharply within the second half of the yr as Beijing deepened cuts throughout its metal mills to scale back emissions from considered one of its worst-polluting industries and international provide started to select up.

Whereas China’s metal manufacturing rose once more in December to its highest degree since August and helped convey iron ore again above $US120 a tonne, funding financial institution UBS mentioned it remained “cautious” on the commodity’s outlook.

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