Investors searching for signs of a double-dip recession could do worse than look at iron ore. Prices have tumbled by more than a third in three months, as Chinese steelmakers have scaled down production.
While prices for other commodities have stabilised after sharp falls in May, as concerns about a renewed slump rose, the price of iron ore, central to the global economy because of its use as a raw material for steel, has continued to fall.
Oil and copper, for instance, have recovered from recent lows, but spot benchmark iron ore – 62 per cent iron content – has dropped 18 per cent in the past three weeks and 36 per cent from its April peak.