A bitter fight is under way Down Under over the deliberate oversupply of iron-ore by major producers as a way of crushing competitors. But all that has been crushed, say smaller iron-ore producers, is the Australian economy. Cliffs Natural Resources CE Laurenco Goncalves pulled no punches at the Global Iron Ore Conference, in Perth, when he outlined how $290-billion had been wiped off the market capitalisations of BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto to move Australia from a 59% market share in 2014 to 64% last year, and for Brazil, through Vale, to move from 18% to 20%. “When you have 59% market share, what the hell do you need more market share for? And then you go to 64% and destroy $290-billion to do that? And you guys think that’s okay?” Goncalves tongue-lashed. Fortescue chairperson Andrew Forrest echoed the comments and reiterated his call for a Senate enquiry into the way in which a finite national patrimony was being decimated, to the detriment of future generations.