Iron Rises With Brazil Flows, Australian Spat in Focus

Iron ore futures gained as major producer
Brazil continued to post lower shipment figures and investors
tracked escalating trade tensions between China, the top iron
ore buyer, and Australia, its largest supplier.
Brazil’s daily average exports of iron ore and concentrated
products was 1.04 million tons in the first five business days
of May, according to economy ministry data on Monday. In May
2019, exports averaged 1.4 million tons a day.
Iron ore prices have largely held up this year, in part due
to lower shipments from Vale SA. The Brazil miner recently cut
annual guidance on bad weather and the coronavirus pandemic’s
impact on operations.
In Australia, meat shipments from four abattoirs to China
were suspended, fueling concerns of rising frictions in the
nation’s most important trading relationship. Canberra has
risked Beijing’s ire in recent weeks by calling for an
independent probe into the origins of the pandemic

Bloomberg