Vale S. A. (VALE)

[JohnCM]

Iron ore plunge hits Brazil • 10:45 AM

• The 8.3% dive in the price of iron ore to $104.70 per ton is the 2nd largest one-day decline on record, and came following weekend data showing an 18.1% Y/Y slump in Chinese exports in February (a gain of 7.5% was expected). While miners like BHP and RIO remain optimistic about supply/demand dynamics (though dour on price prospects), Goldman - picking one analyst team - sees the market moving into surplus in H2 and prices falling below $100 per ton.
• The Shanghai Composite fell 2.9% overnight and Brazil's Bovespa is down 2% in the early-going. Australia (EWA) declined 0.9% and the aussie (FXA) is off 0.6% to $0.9017.
• The steelmaking ingredient is off 22% YTD and at its lowest price since October 2012.
• In the meantime, the rumors are flying, including speculation a mill in China's Shanxi province defaulted on Friday and shut five to six furnaces. There's also chatter about banks looking to call in 20% of loans to private steel companies.
• EWZ -2.1%, VALE -2.8%.
• Brazil ETFs: EWZ, BRF, BRXX, EWZS, BRAQ, BRAZ, BZQ, BRZU, BRAF, UBR, BRZS, DBBR, FBZ
• Base metal mining ETFs: XME, JUNR, PICK