Xi's Wuhan visit sends signal to battered minersRobert GuySenior...

Xi's Wuhan visit sends signal to battered miners

Robert Guy

Senior Writer

Mar 10, 2020 — 4.54pm

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The visit by China's president Xi Jinping to Wuhan may be the circuit breaker the big three iron ore miners have been waiting for after a brutal few days of market carnage.

Long time China watchers had long flagged Mr Xi's visit to the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak as a sign of Beijing's confidence in having reined in the growth threat to the dominant buyer of Australia's commodities.

While there are doubts about the true extent of China's ability to control a virus that has left more than 3000 of its citizens dead, Xi's visit will reinforce the image of China slowly heading back to work after an epidemic that shut down the world's second largest economy and hobbled global supply chains.

Goldman Sachs says miners' shares are pricing in below market iron ore prices. Ian Waldie

That's potentially good news for BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals Group as steel mills and other users of their minerals slowly ramp up production in an economy that produces around one billion tonnes of steel a year.

But the Pilbara trio, like global financial markets, are keen to see the colour of Beijing's money.