Australia and New Zealand Banking Grp Ltd (ASX: ANZ), Citigroup Global Markets Australia Pty Limited and Deutsche Bank AG (ETR: DBK) and 6 of their executives have been committed to stand trial.

The banks plus John McLean, Rick Moscati, Michael Ormaechea, Michael Richardson, Stephen Roberts and Itay Tuchman face criminal charges of running a cartel.

NSW Local Court in Sydney on Tuesday committed the case to a trial in the Federal Court.

The allegations include making arrangements to run a cartel in 2015 in relation to trading ANZ shares held by the other two banks.

ANZ and each of the 6 executives are accused of knowingly being involved in the cartel conduct.

The charges arose after a Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) investigation.

ACCC chair Rod Sims declined to comment as the matter is now the subject of a criminal case.

If found guilty, corporations face a maximum fine of the greater of $10 million or 3 times the total benefits earned from the cartel conduct. If the benefits can’t be calculated, it could be slugged 10% of its annual turnover in Australia.

The 6 executives each face 10 years’ imprisonment, a $420,000 fine or both.

The Federal Court will hear the case at a date to be determined.

ANZ shares were up 0.26% on Tuesday, closing the day at $23.40.

More reading

• Why the ANZ (ASX:ANZ) share price may be a buy
• ASX 200 up 0.3%: Premier Investments update, big four banks rise, gold miners tumble
• Here are the ASX bank shares rated as a buy today
• Cashrewards (ASX:CRW) share price lifts on successful IPO debut
• Banks rejoice: House prices to return to 2019 levels

Motley Fool contributor Tony Yoo has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

What happened

Shares of General Motors (NYSE: GM) were revving higher after the automaker delivered a strong third-quarter earnings report and benefited from bullish sentiment in the electric-vehicle sector as investors are beginning to appreciate the company’s exposure to EVs. 

Consequently, the stock finished the month of November up 27%, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. It also benefited from broad market trends around coronavirus vaccine news and a positive response to the election results.

As you can see from the chart below, General Motors stock gained consistently over most of November following its earnings release at the beginning of the month.

GM data by YCharts

So what

General Motors shares rose 5.4% on 5 November after the company smashed through estimates in its Q3 report. Automakers have bounced back rapidly from the early days of the pandemic as demand for vehicles has soared in part because of an aversion to public transportation, and General Motors has been a beneficiary. Profits jumped thanks to consumers buying higher-margin SUVs and crossover vehicles.

The company’s revenue in the quarter was flat at $35.5 billion, which essentially matched estimates. However, the factors above as well as cost-cutting and fewer markdowns drove a surge in adjusted earnings per share from $1.72 a year ago to $2.83, well ahead of the consensus at $1.38.

The following week the stock climbed again on news that Pfizer and BioNTech had produced a successful coronavirus vaccine and that General Motors said it would hire 3,000 engineers to accelerate its push into electric vehicles and autonomous vehicles (AVs). The week after that, General Motors again asserted that EVs were a priority, stating that it planned 30 electric-vehicle launches by 2025.

With the market now viewing traditional combustion vehicles as a declining industry, it’s key that the automaker pivot toward new technologies.

Now what

Towards the end of the month, General Motors restructured its partnership with Nikola and said it would not take a $2 billion stake in the EV start-up, though GM still plans to supply fuel cell systems to the company. 

As it focuses on EVs and AVs, General Motors offers investors an interesting opportunity since it is still priced as value stock even though it could be a leader in those new sectors. The challenge for General Motors will be to manage the decline of tradition combustion vehicles while transitioning to EVs and AVs.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

More reading

• ANZ bank and execs face criminal charges
• Why the S2 Resources (ASX:S2R) share price was on the move today
• Dalrymple (ASX:DBI) share price tanks 15% at IPO debut today
• Why the Infratil (ASX:IFT) share price rocketed 21% higher today
• Is the Coles (ASX:COL) share price a buy for 2021?

Jeremy Bowman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned.  The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

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The S2 Resources Ltd (ASX: S2R) share price was up by nearly 6% in early morning trading today, before giving back its gains throughout the day to finish flat.

The share price movement comes following this morning’s announcement of promising drill results at its Finish gold prospect.

Year-to-date, the S2 Resources share price is up 38%. By comparison the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is up 1.7% so far in 2020.

What does S2 Resources do?

S2 Resources is a mineral resource exploration company. It seeks to identify early stage assets offering high growth potential. The company operates in three segments: Finland exploration activities, US exploration activities, and Australia exploration activities. Its projects include Polar Bear, Eundynie, and Norcott.

S2 Resources explores for copper, zinc, gold, nickel, and platinum metals. Share first began trading on the ASX in October 2015.

What did S2 Resources announce to send its share price higher today?

In this morning’s ASX announcement, S2 reported on the results it has received from 3 of the 4 diamond holes drilled at its 100% owned Aarnivalkea prospect in Finland.

The diamond holes, drilled in October, were testing for extensions to the shallow gold mineralisation previously uncovered by S2. The drilling was intended to test “down-dip and down-plunge extensions” to the known mineralisation.

The best results came from hole FAVD0062, which intersected several mineralised zones, with the strongest located 110 metres down-dip from previous drilling. The drill results returned 6.85 metres at 11.8g/t gold from 223.0 metres downhole, including 4.0 metres at 18.1g/t from 223.0 metres downhole.

Commenting on the drill results, S2 Resources’ CEO Matthew Keane said:

This high grade result reinforces S2’s view of the prospectivity of our tenure in the Central Lapland Greenstone Belt. Aarnivalkea is a virgin gold discovery, completely masked by shallow glacial cover and located only 24 kilometres from Kittilä, Europe’s largest producing gold mine. Lapland remains an integral part of S2’s portfolio, and in addition to following up on these gold results, we also plan to commence base metal exploration in 2021 on our 100% owned Ruopas Project.

More reading

• ANZ bank and execs face criminal charges
• Why General Motors stock jumped 27% last month
• Dalrymple (ASX:DBI) share price tanks 15% at IPO debut today
• Why the Infratil (ASX:IFT) share price rocketed 21% higher today
• Is the Coles (ASX:COL) share price a buy for 2021?

Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Dalrymple Bay Infrastructure Limited (ASX: DBI) share price has taken a beating on the first day of its ASX listing, losing more than 15% soon after the shares floated.

In today’s initial public offer (IPO), Dalrymple has raised $656 million by selling 255 million shares at a price of $2.57 per share.

The Dalrymple share price was trading at $2.16 at close of trade.

More about the Dalrymple IPO

Dalrymple owns the Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal, which handles about one-third of Queensland’s coal exports, and 15% of global export metallurgical coal volumes in 2019.

The port sits on the world’s largest coal export terminal, Port of Hay Point, which handles coal from the Bowen Basin mines. The Bowen Basin mines are the source of 80% of Queensland’s coal.

During the book build, Brookfield – which privately owned 100% of Dalrymple before IPO – had a hard time convincing institutional investors. Their concerns included the pricing of the float and its ability to expand if coal demand from China falters. Investors were also worried about the declining demand for coals in general as the world moves towards renewable energy.

Brookfield addressed investor concerns in the prospectus, saying that 80% of the coal going through the Dalrymple Bay terminal each year was metallurgical coal, also known as coking coal used in steel making. This type of coal is still generally accepted by investors who are divesting from thermal coal in favour of renewables amid climate concerns.

Retail investors eventually took up one-third of the share allocation, lured by the promise of a 7% dividend yield next year.

Brookfield retains a 49% stake, with Pershing Securities Australia – which was convicted of criminal offences in August for breaching laws relating to client money – taking 32 million shares of the allocation or 6.4% of the company. The Queensland Government meanwhile is the other major shareholder, investing $128 million from its Backing Queensland fund to take a 9.99% stake.

The IPO valued Dalrymple at $1.286 billion on a market capitalisation basis, and $3.074 billion in terms of enterprise value.

More reading

• Why the Infratil (ASX:IFT) share price rocketed 21% higher today
• Is the Coles (ASX:COL) share price a buy for 2021?
• Why the Andromeda Metals (ASX:ADN) share price is lifting off today
• ASX stock of the day: Linius (ASX:LNU) share price blasts up 30% on product debut
• Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell today

Motley Fool contributor Eddy Sunarto has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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One of the best performers on the Australian share market on Tuesday was the Infratil Ltd (ASX: IFT) share price.

The New Zealand-based infrastructure investment company’s shares rocketed 21% higher before being hurriedly placed into a trading halt shortly before the market close.

This means the Infratil share price ended the day at a record high of $6.80.

Why was the Infratil share price rocketing higher?

It appears as though Link Administration Holdings Ltd (ASX: LNK) isn’t the only company receiving a takeover approach today.

Investors were buying Infratil’s shares this afternoon amid reports that one of Australia’s leading superannuation funds has made a takeover approach for the dual-listed company.

According to the AFR, AustralianSuper says it has submitted a proposal to acquire all the shares in the dual-listed company.

Australia’s largest superannuation fund has tabled an offer of NZ$7.43 a share or NZ$5.37 billion (A$5.09 billion) to acquire the company.

The report advises that AustralianSuper’s offer consists of a cash consideration of NZ$5.79 a share and 0.221 of a Trustpower share per Infratil share.

Based on the current Infratil share price of NZ$6.08 (on the NZX), this offer represents a 22.2% premium.

AustralianSuper has apparently said that it would continue to seek engagement with the Infratil board to give its shareholders the opportunity to assess the proposal in full.

What now?

As things stand, Infratil is yet to comment on the takeover approach or confirm its receipt. This is likely to come tomorrow morning before the market reopens.

One thing that is for sure, though, is that AustralianSuper cannot be accused of making an opportunistic approach.

Even prior to today’s jump, the Infratil share price was up a sizeable 13.5% since the start of the year and trading within a whisker of its record high.

The superannuation fund appears to see long term value in the company and is prepared to pay a premium to get it.

More reading

• ASX stock of the day: Tilt (ASX:TLT) share price rockets 17% to new all-time high

James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Link Administration Holdings Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Link Administration Holdings Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL) share price has been a very strong performer in 2020.

Since the start of the year, the supermarket giant’s shares have risen an impressive 22%.

Is it too late to buy Coles shares?

Although the Coles share price has been on fire this year, analysts at Goldman Sachs believe they can still go higher from here.

This morning the broker retained its buy rating and $20.50 price target on Coles’ shares following the company’s appearance at its Black Friday Investor Series event.

COVID-19 trading.

At the event, Coles’ Chief Financial Officer, Leah Weckert, presented and spoke positively about the company’s performance and prospects.

In respect to COVID-19 trading, Goldman Sachs noted: “Sales remain elevated due to work from home, but the concept of new normal is taking hold. Management expects the work from home tailwind to be a longer term impact for the industry. The group has not observed any notable shift in consumers towards value purchases yet.”

Strong Christmas period expected.

The broker also revealed that Coles is positive on its prospects during Christmas and is expecting stronger than normal demand.

It explained: “Expecting demand to be higher than normal, but will not be very different from the peak of panic buying period, therefore expect to be better prepared for this heightened level of activity. Categories like entertainment have been elevated for some time but these have a short turnaround time making it easier to deal with demand fluctuations. Believe that consumers are looking to spoil themselves a bit into Christmas and will be watching this from a premiumization perspective.”

Strategy update.

Coles also provided an update on its refreshed strategy and particularly its Smarter Selling pillar. Pleasingly, for shareholders, the company is delivering ahead of expectations on this.

Goldman commented: “18 months into the strategy, management sees progress ahead of initial expectations, with EBIT growth being realised sooner than expected. Maintains a long term focus and not distracted by short term trends.”

Online improvements.

Another key takeaway for Goldman Sachs was an update on the progress Coles is making with its online business.

It explained: “Penetration rates are different in each state with Victoria at 9% for example, and WA not seeing much of a shift. Management does not expect much of a change in online penetration into Christmas unless there is another wave of government restrictions due to COVID-19.”

“The group is Investing in online where required, but is being judicious in its application due to risks around regret capex. An update on online is expected from management during the February result. Have improved the online checkout process to be 6 times faster and working on broadening the online range. Online capacity was doubled through COVID without much capex investment,” the broker added.

Buy rating maintained.

All in all, Goldman appears happy with what it heard at the event and has held firm with its buy rating and $20.50 price target.

Based on the latest Coles share price, this price target implies potential upside of 12% over the next 12 months, excluding dividends.

More reading

• 2 blue chip ASX dividend shares to buy
• Goldman says buy the Metcash (ASX:MTS) share price ahead of next week’s results
• 2 growing ASX dividend shares to buy this month
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX 200 on track for a top month
• 2 of the best ASX shares for your retirement portfolio

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of COLESGROUP DEF SET. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Andromeda Metals Ltd (ASX: ADN) share price is surging higher today, up 6.3% in afternoon trading.

That brings Andromeda’s share price gains to 34.2% over the past month and a stellar 410% year to date.

By comparison the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is up 6.1% over the past month and up a slender 0.8% since 2 January.

What does Andromeda Metals do?

Andromeda Metals is an emerging industrial minerals producer. The company’s primary focus is its Great White halloysite-kaolin deposit, which it is working to bring into production. If you’re not familiar with halloysite, it adds whiteness and strength during the manufacture of porcelain, among its other uses.

Andromeda Metals is also involved in a joint venture (JV) with Cobra Resources in the Eyre Peninsula Gold Project in South Australia.

Why is the Andromeda share price surging higher today?

Today’s 6.3% gains for the Andromeda share price look to be driven by a positive drilling announcement from its JV partner, Cobra Resources.

Andromeda reported that Cobra has intersected significant high-grade gold at its Wudinna Gold Project in South Australia. The substantial intersection is now a high priority target for an additional joint venture drilling program

Of the 41 reverse circulation (RC) holes drilled since September, 80% are still awaiting the assay results.

According to the release, one of the drill holes returned significant gold results of 31 metres at 3.06 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from 69 metres, “including a high grade intercept of 15 metres at 5.25 g/t gold from 83 metres.”

The final results are expected to support Cobra’s goal of expanding the current mineral resource of 211,000 ounces towards its initial target of 1 million ounces across the project area.

A more than 5% rise in the price of gold so far in December has also come as welcome news to investors in Andromeda and other ASX gold shares.

Having hit all time highs above US$2,063 per ounce on 6 August this year, the yellow metal slid through to the end of November, before finally hitting a low of US$1,776 per ounce on the final day of the month.

With Andromeda Metals still awaiting the assay results of most of the drill holes, it will be interesting to see how the company’s share price performs once these are released.

More reading

• ASX stock of the day: Linius (ASX:LNU) share price blasts up 30% on product debut
• Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell today
• Iron ore exports unlikely to slow down amid Australia–China trade tension: experts
• Why the MSM (ASX:MSM) share price is soaring 12% today
• These 2 FAANG leaders will drive the Nasdaq in 2021

Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Linius Technologies Ltd (ASX: LNU) share price is having a top day today. Linius shares are trading at 7.4 cents a share at the time of writing, up 29.82% today.

The Linius share price closed at 5.7 cents yesterday and opened at 5.8 cents this morning, before shooting past the 7.5 cent market shortly after lunchtime for a brief period. At the current share price, this company has a market capitalisation of ~$110 million.

So what is Linius Technologies? And why is this company’s share price going bananas today?

What is Linius Tech?

Linius Technologies is in the business of writing video editing software. The company tells us that it has “cracked the code that makes hyper-personalised video possible”. It was founded back in 2011, and (unfortunately for shareholders), has never quite reached its initial public offering (IPO) price of 20 cents since.

The company’s stated purpose is “transforming cumbersome, static video files into dynamic virtual files that can be easily manipulated on-the-fly, delivering an enhanced, custom experience for content creators, distributors and consumers”.

Linius sees itself as a disrupter of “multi-billion-dollar markets” with its video technology. It is seeking to commercialise this technology across 6 “core markets”, which are:

• News & Media,
• Sports Broadcasters & Rights Holders
• Education
• Corporate Communications
• Security & Defense
• Sports Betting

The company aims to do this through 2 primary product offerings: a Video Search Solution powered by the patented Video Virtualisation Engine; and a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform, Linius Video Services.

The Video Search Solution reportedly helps users instantly search for any object, across any number of video sources, and instantly play back the content that matches the search results. It also can “automatically push search results into existing workflows”, as well as deliver “an infinite number of streams” to individuals in a tailored manner based on “existing consumption preferences or behaviour”.

Linius sees these products as having specific use in the news media landscape, enabling “hyper-personalised news-as-a-service”. With sports, it wants to “provide every viewer with a hyper-personalised video feed of the sporting moments that matter to them”. It sees security and defense applications for the service as being able to “detect suspicious activities and intervene before an incident occurs”.

Why is the Linius share price rocketing today?

The stellar performance of the Linius share price today appears to be heavily connected to an ASX announcement the company released to the markets this morning before open.

This announcement concerned the Whizzard product that Linius first announced on 25 November. Back then, the company revealed that Whizzard would be a “unique product”. It promises to allow users to “immediately search, assemble and share video content from within recorded meetings”.

It was announced that Whizzard would be immediately available to users of Zoom Video Comminications Inc‘s (NASDAQ: ZM) Zoom, Microsoft Corporation‘s (NASDAQ: MSFT) Teams and Cisco Systems Inc‘s (NASDAQ: CSCO) Webex products. This combination represents 55% of the world’s video conferencing market, according to Linius.

Amazon’s magic touch

Importantly, Linius noted then that, “[Amazon.com Inc‘s (NASDAQ: AMZN)] Amazon Web Services (AWS) hosts the WHIZZARD platform, underpins its AI services and is providing funding support for the product’s marketing efforts”.

This is important because the only update Linius gave to that announcement today was the following:

Linius is an AWS Partner Network (APN) Technology Partner, and like other businesses within the APN, can unlock funding support for training, new product and solution development, and go-to-market activities.

Linius has been approved by AWS for funding support for the WHIZZARD go-to-market activities. Whilst Linius does not consider the level of funding itself as material, the collaboration and hosting of WHIZZARD on AWS is material as it demonstrates a deepening of Linius’ relationship with AWS and opportunities for co-marketing of the WHIZZARD product suite.

So it appears that the market today is reacting to this “deepening” relationship that Linius has with Amazon. Amazon is a highly popular company for investors around the world due to its breathtaking growth over the past 2 decades, which has seen it grow into a US$1.58 trillion company today. 

More reading

• Here’s how world’s 10 richest made $1.5 trillion from COVID-19
• Amazon grew even more dominant in 2020
• Amazon’s holiday sales jump 60%
• Cyber Monday sales hit a record $10.8 billion
• 2 reasons Amazon will keep taking ad sales from Google

John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Teresa Kersten, an employee of LinkedIn, a Microsoft subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Sebastian Bowen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Amazon, Microsoft, and Zoom Video Communications and recommends the following options: short January 2022 $1940 calls on Amazon and long January 2022 $1920 calls on Amazon. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Amazon and Zoom Video Communications. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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On Monday I looked at three ASX shares that brokers have given buy ratings to this week.

Unfortunately, not all shares are in favour with them right now. Three that have just been given sell ratings are listed below.

Here’s why these brokers are bearish on these ASX shares:

Oil Search Ltd (ASX: OSH)

According to a note out of Macquarie, its analysts have downgraded this energy producer’s shares to an underperform rating and cut the price target on them to $3.40. This follows a downgrade to neutral just last month. The broker made the move on valuation grounds after a strong rally in its share price over the last few months. In addition to this, it has a few concerns over its Alaska operation. The Oil Search share price is trading at $3.75 this afternoon.

Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN)

Analysts at Credit Suisse have retained their underperform rating and $3.00 price target on this airline operator’s shares. According to the note, the broker isn’t as confident on the company’s prospects in the domestic market as some. This is due to its belief that Virgin Australia will be a strong competitor and the impending entry of Regional Express Holdings Ltd (ASX: REX) into the market. The Qantas share price is trading notably higher than this price target at $5.40 on Tuesday.

WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC)

A note out of Citi reveals that its analysts have retained their sell rating but lifted the price target on this logistic solutions company’s shares to $27.70. The broker has concerns that it could take longer for acquisitions to integrate and for them to deliver on expected returns. It fears the market isn’t factoring this risk into its share price and appears to believe this poses meaningful downside risk to forecasts. The WiseTech share price is fetching $31.87 this afternoon.

More reading

• Will the Qantas (ASX:QAN) share price go higher with reopened borders?
• This ASX travel share is already too expensive: fundies
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday
• Here’s why the Beach Energy (ASX:BPT) share price is up more than 50% over the past month
• Regional Express (ASX:REX) share price soars to 13-year high

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of WiseTech Global. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The reliance of Australian exports to the Chinese market has been put under the spotlight, with China imposing fresh trade restrictions across industries such as coal, wine, barley and timber.

However, a number of resource industry experts believe the country will be unable to shake off its reliance on Australia’s iron ore industry, in the short-term at least.

Demand for iron ore remains strong

In a recent ABC article, iron ore research analyst Philip Kirchlechner said despite the hostility, China’s coronavirus stimulus packages have seen the country’s demand for iron ore surge as it targets steel-intensive projects like rail, airports bridges and ports. Given the fact that Australia is currently China’s most reliable source of steel, Kirchlechner believes there is no need to panic.

Former Australian ambassador to China Geoff Raby also commented on China’s need for steel (as quoted by the Australian Financial Review):

China’s big agenda is the Belt and Road. This is China’s grand plan to provide the hard and soft infrastructure to facilitate trade between Europe and Asia. Steel is central to it.

In the same AFR article, Sydney-based iron ore analyst Andrew Gadd also pointed to the fact the domestic iron ore industry in China is shrinking. China’s current supply of iron ore only meets 20% of that required by its steel plants. For this reason, Gadd does not predict any decline in Australian export volumes to China in the near future.

Reliability and quality

There were also signs last week that Brazilian miner Vale will take longer than expected to solve the challenges curbing its iron ore output, which means China will need to continue to look elsewhere to meet its demand.

As reported by the ABC, BIS Oxford Economics chief economist Sarah Hunter is optimistic there would be no significant disruptions to iron ore exports to China over the next few years:

…Australia is very well placed as a reliable, high quality, big supplier into the Chinese market, and Chinese demand for iron ore isn’t going to diminish, as they don’t really have a good viable alternative.

While their share prices are all down slightly today, ASX iron ore shares Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG), BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) and Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) all enjoyed solid gains over the past week as the iron ore price continues to surge.

More reading

• The Aussie dollar just hit a new 2-year high. Here’s what that means
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• Top ASX shares making record all-time highs
• The BHP (ASX:BHP) share price has just hit a multi-year high

Motley Fool contributor MWUaus has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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