The mining supercycle is over: here’s what that means for your money

The commodities supercycle – the idea that the rampant growth of emerging markets and Asia in particular would drive raw materials prices ever higher – has been a major investment theme for the past decade. But all good things must come to an end. We’ve argued for some time that China was heading for a hard landing following its money-printing extravaganza. It’s now becoming clear to others that China is in trouble. And even if the country does avoid a crash, it has changed its focus. Whatever happens, its intense demand for commodities is set to drop off. And that’s got to be bad news for mining stocks.