"There's a strong possibility that iron ore falls below $30 in 2016," Citigroup Inc. Head of Asia Commodity Research Ivan Szpakowski said in an interview on Thursday after the bank cut price forecasts through to 2018 in a report. In the first half, "the biggest pressure is actually from the demand side. It's actually going to come from weak steel demand in China," said Szpakowski. [...]

Iron ore has been routed as the world's largest miners including Rio Tinto Group and BHP Billiton Ltd. in Australia and Brazil's Vale SA expanded low-cost output while demand growth stalled in China. Lower costs including freight and energy and weakening currencies in producer nations are enabling suppliers to reduce their break-even rates and withstand lower prices. Costs had fallen more than expected, the bank said.