Looming wave of iron-ore supply threatens $100 price floor

Iron-ore prices are likely to stay in three digits for the rest of 2024, insulated to a large degree from China’s faltering economy by cost support that kicks in at around $100 a ton. But that could change from next year as a wave of cheap supply starts to build in West Africa, lowering the industry’s average costs and forcing prices to better reflect the long-term decline of China’s steel industry, the biggest consumer of iron-ore.