Iron-ore futures surged more than 5% to hit the highest level since 2014 on concern that the increasingly severe crisis at top producer Vale will curtail global supplies, tightening the seaborne market and offsetting the impact of a slowdown in China, the largest importer.
Vale invoked force majeure earlier this week after a judge forced it to suspend some operations at its Brucutu mine in Brazil – a move that it said would result in an annual production loss of 30-million tons.