China steel futures tumble

Manila
Iron ore and steel futures in China fell sharply to hit their downside limit on Monday, swept by a broad-based selloff in risky assets on fears a cooling Chinese economy could spark a global slowdown.
Other commodities from copper to oil fell to their lowest since 2009 and Asian equities plummeted, led by Chinese stocks that dived more than 8 percent. The dollar dropped to its lowest since June versus a basket of currencies. Iron ore for January delivery on the Dalian Commodity Exchange fell 4 percent to close at its exchange-set floor of 362.50 yuan ($57) a tonne.
That is its lowest in three weeks and could further drag on spot prices of iron ore, a steelmaking ingredient. The September iron ore contract on the Singapore Exchange SZZFU5 dropped 6 percent to $50.05 a tonne.
The spot price of iron ore, the biggest commodity produced by global miners Vale, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, has rebounded by more than a quarter from a decade-low of $44.