2015 was a very bad year to be in the business of digging things out of the ground, thanks to a dramatic slowdown in growth in China. Commodity prices tumbled, with oil and copper both down by more than 30%. The upside was that many consumers all over the world found some basic necessities became noticeably cheaper. The downside was severe pain for mine workers, mining companies and countries like Russia and Brazil, that had previously been feasting on the wealth generated by a five year commodities boom. The main raw material of steel, iron ore, saw some of the steepest declines. It has fallen by 80% from its peak four years ago. It was a price tumble that none of the experts had forecast – and it is all down to China. China’s low consumer inflation […]