Welcome to the end of the biggest commodity boom

OIL, copper, soybeans and a handful of others monopolised the attention – but of all commodities, the humble lump of iron ore benefited the most from the Chinese economic boom of the last 25 years.

It was an astonishing bonanza: From the late 1990s to earlier this year, iron ore prices jumped nearly over ten times, more than any other major commodity; traded volume tripled; Australian commodity tycoons become billionaires; mining companies turned, even briefly, into Wall Street darlings; and mighty legal battles broke for control of the last untapped mineral deposits.

And now, it is over: The greatest commodity boom thus far of the 21st century has ended. China inflated it – and China, too, is bringing it down.