‘Carnage’ in steel markets to sink iron ore below $US90

Analysts are perplexed why Australia’s key export, iron ore, is still trading around $US100 a tonne despite China’s property crisis wreaking havoc on steel prices, and Beijing offering little reassurance of meaningful policy support.

Iron ore prices slipped below $US100 a tonne on Monday for the fourth time in two weeks and are about 30 per cent below their January peak. Futures traded in Singapore fell 1.2 per cent to $US99.85 a tonne by midday on Monday.