中文
Iron ore is an essential raw material for the steel industry,and its high-quality resources are concentrated in the southern hemisphere.Major steel producing countries around the world,such as China,Japan,and South Korea,are severely constrained by resource shortages,making investment and development of iron ore resources a hot topic in the industry.Recently,there has been a resurgence in global investment in iron ore resources,with investment destinations mainly concentrated in Oceania(Australia),Africa,and South America.Investment companies mainly include international mining companies,Chinese steel companies,and Indian steel companies.With the acceleration of iron ore project development and construction,it is expected that the global iron ore supply and demand contradiction will be significantly alleviated in the future.
Chinese steel companies are accelerating their layout of overseas equity mines
The low self-sufficiency rate of iron resources is one of the constraints on the development of China’s steel industry.In order to effectively change the composition of iron resources and fundamentally supplement the shortcomings of the steel industry chain resources,the China Iron and Steel Industry Association launched the”Iron Resources Development Plan”in 2022.The plan is to increase domestic ore production,scrap consumption,and overseas equity ore by 100 million tons,70 million tons,and 100 million tons respectively,to 370 million tons,300 million tons,and 220 million tons by 2025 compared to 2020.
Enterprises represented by China Baowu are actively implementing the”Iron Resource Development Plan”and expanding their iron ore resource development in Australia,Liberia,and Guinea.In 2023,the FMG Iron Bridge project,which is jointly invested by Baowu Resources,the Bomi project in Liberia,and the Bang Mine project in Liberia,which is participated in by Wuhan Iron and Steel Group,were successively put into operation.On May 21st this year,China Baowu participated in the delivery of the first batch of iron ore for the Anslow Iron Mine project in Western Australia ahead of schedule.The project has an annual production capacity of 35 million tons and is located 150 kilometers from Ashburton Port.It is also known as Ashburton Iron Mine and is expected to be mined for over 30 years.The project is jointly developed by China Baowu,Australian Mineral Resources Company,American Metal Coal Company,and South Korean Pohang Iron and Steel Co.,Ltd.in the joint venture of Hongshan Iron Mine.On June 17th,the Xipo project,jointly developed by Rio Tinto Group and China Baowu(holding 54%and 46%respectively),achieved the first shipment of iron ore.The project is designed to have an annual production capacity of 25 million tons of iron ore and is expected to be fully completed and put into operation in March 2025.
In Guinea,China Baowu participated in the Simandou Iron Mine project,which is known as the world’s largest and highest quality open-pit hematite mine,through bond financing and penetration shareholding in the north and south blocks.On June 19th,China Baowu and the Simandou Win Alliance completed the equity delivery of the Simandou Iron Mine project,marking that China Baowu will become the substantial largest shareholder of the Simandou Iron Mine project.It is understood that the infrastructure construction of the project has been completed by 30%to 40%,and it is expected to be put into operation in 2026.After full operation,it will have an annual production capacity of 120 million tons of high-quality iron ore,which will greatly change the global iron ore supply and demand relationship.
With the increasing investment and development efforts in overseas iron ore resources,it is expected that China’s overseas equity iron ore production capacity target will be achieved on schedule by 2025,which will provide guarantees for the stable supply of iron ore resources.