Another slide in iron ore prices occurred on Thursday afternoon, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see the $US100-a-tonne level breached in the next couple of days.
The SGX futures price (for April delivery) slid 2.8% to $US102.50 a tonne at Thursday evening’s close, the lowest since mid-August when prices last dropped under the $US100-a-tonne level.
This marks a decline from $US105.55 on Wednesday and is 6.4% lower than the $US115.18 at last Friday’s close. It’s also $US40 a tonne lower than the year's peak of just over $US142 a tonne.
This news will offset the one-day copper-driven bounce of 2.6% for BHP shares on Thursday, while Rio Tinto shares added 1.9% for the same reason. Fortescue shares edged up 0.12% in sympathy.
The bounce in copper ended overnight with the price down slightly to $US4.05 a pound for the front-month contract (May). As a result, the shares of all three miners will likely slide Friday due to the drop in iron ore prices.
