| 2015 was another tough year for commodities with a sharp slowdown seen in demand from China. Combined with ongoing supply growth—the result of a 30-year high in capital investment over 2009-13—this has led to all non-precious commodity prices falling materially, and the global mining sector equities underperforming for an unprecedented fifth consecutive year, making it the worst period since at least 1966.
Looking forward into 2016, it is hard to see what might pull the sector out of its tailspin. A demand shock seems unlikely given the state of China’s economy. Aside from the structural transition away from fixed asset investment (FAI) intensive growth in China, we worry about deteriorating demographics in China and a multi-year slowdown in property investment...............................................Full Article: Source
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