Connected Investor - The Brunner Investment Trust PLC Podcast
Aug 28, 2026 · 20 min · 9 segments
In this episode of Connected Investor, Brunner Investment Trust Portfolio Managers Julian Bishop and James Ashworth look back at previous capital cycles to explore what the past could teach present…
Julian BishopHost
James AshworthHost
So let's talk about the mining super cycle that occurred at the beginning of the last decade.
So iron ore, obviously a commodity product, a key input into manufacturing steel.
I guess the commodity price of iron ore before about 2005 had always been about $25 a tonne, give or take.
But something really changed at that point, maybe a little bit of a history lesson.
What happened to the iron ore price and what was the driver of that change? So
And this really took off again and went up another leg following the financial crisis.
So if you think about the financial crisis 2008, 2009, China's main export markets were in recession.
China, in response, stimulated its economy with this huge program of property building, infrastructure build-out, airports, bridges, railways, etc.
And of course, all this consumes vast amounts of steel, which is ultimately made from iron ore.
So this huge increase in demand for iron ore leads to an enormous increase in price.
And we see the iron ore price increase from what had always been roughly $25 a tonne to a peak of around $200 a tonne.
Presumably that's wonderful for the iron ore industry companies, the iron ore miners.
Maybe talk us through how they respond to this environment, this huge increase in prices and presumably profitability.
So if you think Northwest Australia, there's a region called the Pilbara where the ground is made out of iron ore effectively.
So let's talk about the mining super cycle that occurred at the beginning of the last decade.
So iron ore, obviously a commodity product, a key input into manufacturing steel.
I guess the commodity price of iron ore before about 2005 had always been about $25 a tonne, give or take.
But something really changed at that point, maybe a little bit of a history lesson.
What happened to the iron ore price and what was the driver of that change? So
And this really took off again and went up another leg following the financial crisis.
So if you think about the financial crisis 2008, 2009, China's main export markets were in recession.
China, in response, stimulated its economy with this huge program of property building, infrastructure build-out, airports, bridges, railways, etc.
And of course, all this consumes vast amounts of steel, which is ultimately made from iron ore.
So this huge increase in demand for iron ore leads to an enormous increase in price.
And we see the iron ore price increase from what had always been roughly $25 a tonne to a peak of around $200 a tonne.
Presumably that's wonderful for the iron ore industry companies, the iron ore miners.
Maybe talk us through how they respond to this environment, this huge increase in prices and presumably profitability.
So if you think Northwest Australia, there's a region called the Pilbara where the ground is made out of iron ore effectively.
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