Lucky country returns as coal booms

David Llewellyn-Smith

Tuesday 1 September 2026

I noted yesterday that Chinese steel output is going bust.

This has failed to put a dent in inventories.

What it is doing, nonetheless, is rocketing the steel price.

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About the author

David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal. He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.