Samarco dam burst

On 5 November two of Samarco's tailings dams ruptured causing extensive flooding and mudslides, resulting in an unconfirmed number of fatalities and missing people. Samarco is the world's second-largest producer of iron ore pellets accounting for almost 20% of global exports. It is too soon to draw any firm conclusions regarding the impact on the iron ore market and the wider socio-economic and environmental implications but the incident provides some upside risk to iron ore pellet premiums.