As China Peak Steel Looms, Miners Sweat on $120 Billion Bet
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Chinese President Xi Jinping obviously wasn’t speaking for the world’s iron-ore producers when he pronounced this month that the risks from his country’s slowing growth “aren’t that scary.”
Mining giants have wagered $120 billion on belief that steel production in China won’t peak until as late as 2030. As the price of the key steelmaking raw material continued its descent to a five-year low today, it increasingly looks like they got that wrong. It’s a miscalculation that could have huge consequences for companies led by BHP Billiton Ltd. and Rio Tinto Group.