Iron ore's glory days seen to be numbered as China's demand rolls over

Iron ore's fortunes -- and those of the top miners in Australia and Brazil -- largely turn on the strength and trajectory of demand in China, which buys about 70% of seaborne cargoes

Iron ore faces a long, slow slide over the coming half-decade. Prices are poised to decline over the long term as the impact of weakening demand in biggest buyer China will more than offset gains in consumption seen in other emerging markets including India, according to Citigroup Inc. 

“Steel demand is no longer going to be what it was,” Ed Morse, global head of commodity research, said in an interview. “No combination of India, Brazil and any other emerging-market country, no matter how big, is going to replace what China did alone,” he said, referring to spike in demand from the