Commodities prices and stock markets were hit yesterday after weak Chinese export figures suggested that the world’s second-largest economy was slowing.
Benchmark iron ore delivered to the Chinese port of Tianjin slumped by 8.3 per cent to $104.70 a dry tonne, the biggest fall since the summer of 2009, as fears mounted about demand in China. Prices have dropped by 22 per cent this year as Chinese imports of iron ore slid from 86.83 million metric tonnes in January to 61.24 million metric tonnes last month.
Copper prices in London fell to an eight-month low of $6,649 a tonne and Shanghai contracts dropped by their 5 per cent daily limit as investors fretted about the first domestic corporate bond default in Chinese history last week.