Iron ore prices fell below $100 a tonne on 20 September 2021 for the first time since July 2020, completing a collapse of more than half from the record above $230 a tonne reached in May. The benchmark 62 percent fines price had lost about 53 percent since mid-July as China tightened steel output controls to cut carbon emissions. The trigger was Beijing's drive to keep full-year crude steel output below 2020 levels, which cut hot metal production and with it the appetite for ore. Port stocks in China rose, and miners' shares fell sharply, with Rio Tinto among the hardest hit. The slump ended one of the most profitable periods in mining history: between April 2020 and May 2021, prices had climbed from about $80 to $235 a tonne. Analysts said the market had moved from scarcity to surplus in a matter of weeks, and warned that further output cuts in China could push prices lower still before the end of the year.
Source: The Motley Fool Australia — https://www.fool.com.au/2021/09/20/rio-tinto-asxrio-share-price-craters-as-iron-ore-hits-us100-a-tonne/
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