The state reserves administration in China released 150,000 tonnes of copper, aluminium and zinc into the market, completing a third round of metal auctions.
Iron ore's demand-driven price surge last year is increasingly looking like an aberration as supply factors once again start to weaken the price outlook.
Fresh bid is far better than the $2.55bn it offered earlier this month and considerably more than the $2.45bn offered by Yancoal, the Chinese-backed miner that is Rio’s preferred buyer.