The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) iron ore giants are trouncing the benchmark's return in late afternoon trade on Tuesday.
At the time of writing, the ASX 200 is up 0.3%.
Meanwhile:
- BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) shares have gained 2.3%
- Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX: RIO) shares are up 3.2%
- Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) shares are up 2.7%
Considering the outsized weighting the three mining stocks have on the ASX 200, the benchmark owes much of its gains today to their strong performance.
What's piquing investor interest?
Investors have been bidding up the ASX 200 miners today after a boost in iron ore futures prices.
The industrial metal leapt 3% to US$100.40 (AU$149.80) per tonne. That's up from just over US$81 per tonne on 1 November. And it's the highest price the industrial metal has fetched in two months, since 29 September.
The increased iron ore price, and resultant lift in the ASX 200 miners, may come as a surprise following the past few days of news centred around China's COVID zero policies.
With new infections still soaring in China, analysts are expecting the world's second-biggest economy to struggle amid continuing rolling lockdowns.
Atop the economic hit, social unrest has broken out over those restrictions. Over the weekend and into Monday, China witnessed almost unheard of mass protests from citizens demanding a return of freedom of movement.
All this bodes poorly for metals demand from the Middle Kingdom, throwing up headwinds for the ASX 200 miners.
However, these fears look to have been trumped amid fresh news that Chinese regulators have upped their efforts to aid China's floundering, iron ore-hungry property sector.
Aside from boosting the iron ore price, China's SSE Composite Index is up 2.2% in mid-day trading.
How have the ASX 200 miners performed in 2022?
Despite some big price swings, it's been an excellent year to be invested in the ASX 200 miners.
Since this time last year, the BHP share price is up 14%, Rio Tinto shares have gained 16%, and the Fortescue share price is up 14%.
For some context, the benchmark index is down 5% for the calendar year.
