Last week BHP has said it has not seen any impact on its operations from the coronavirus, despite a small number of its staff globally testing positive. It notes there has not been any broad transmission between employees and that it has taken measures to reduce the risk of the disease spreading. Like other miners, it has revised fly-in-fly-out schedules for its mines and has given at-risk staff members options for working from home or taking leave.

Similarly the largest Brazilian miner, Vale, is seeing no significant impact from the crisis. Last week, Credit Suisse analysts Caio Ribeiro and Gabriel Galvão estimated that the Brazilian miner Vale is not expected to fulfil its iron production for this year, although not because of the Covid-19 outbreak. “The factors that will hinder Vale`s iron production target are related to climate, such as the strong rainy season that hit Minas Gerais and the Northern Region at the beginning 2020, as well as some operational problems,” the analyst says, noting that the the iron ore market is more resistant to the health crisis than other commodities.