Miners lift London Stock Exchange’s FTSE 100 as iron price hits record in China
A rising iron ore price pushed up London-listed miners today, helping lift the FTSE 100.
Rio Tinto rose 3.3 per cent by the early afternoon, while Fresnillo was up 2.8 per cent, putting both in the top five blue-chip risers.
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It comes as Chinese iron ore prices hit a new record high.
The most-traded iron ore contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange, for delivery in September, finished the day up 0.4 per cent to 756.5 yuan ($109.45). Earlier in the day the price reached its highest level since China started trading in iron ore futures in 2013.
Prices have boomed so far this year after a mining waste dam operated by the world’s largest iron producer in January.
More than 300 people were confirmed killed or missing after a dam used by Vale’s Brumadinho mine burst, releasing a tidal wave of mining waste.
Earlier this month Vale warned that another of its mines, by Gongo Soco, just 40 miles away from Brumadinho, was on the brink of collapse too.
“The iron ore rally is primarily due to the tight supply-demand balance that was further catalysed by the increased risk of a dam breach at Gongo Soco,” Richard Lu, a Beijing-based analyst with CRU, told Reuters.
Read more: Another Vale dam could collapse next week, miner warns
In London the price rises also helped boost shares in BHP, which was up 2.4 per cent to 1,843p, Antofagasta, up 2.7 per cent to 824p, and Anglo American, up 1.1 per cent to 1,967p.
Meanwhile, Petra Diamonds rose 6.9 per cent to 19.77p after news that Peel Hunt and Tamesis Partners had been appointed as brokers to the company.