China iron ore steadies as steel slide counters BHP's rail halt
MANILA, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Chinese iron ore futures steadied on Tuesday, surrendering early gains, as concerns over tighter supply after BHP Billiton suspended all its iron ore rail operations in Western Australia were offset by a slide in steel prices.
The world’s No. 3 iron ore supplier made the decision after a train, loaded with iron ore, at BHP’s Mount Newman railway line ran away at high speed for nearly 100 km (62 miles) before being forcibly derailed.
BHP has four processing hubs and five mines in the Pilbara region of northern Western Australia, connected by more than 1,000 km of rail infrastructure and port facilities.
The most-traded January iron ore on the Dalian Commodity Exchange closed 0.1 percent lower at 510 yuan ($74) a tonne after rising as much as 1.7 percent intraday.
BHP did not say how long the iron ore rail operations will be suspended, but ANZ analysts said the miner “does have a substantial stockpile at the port that it will be able to utilise.”
