China normally takes around 70% of the seaborne trade in iron ore, or around 1 billion tonnes, but it relies on domestic production for a further 900 million tonnes.
China is the world's biggest consumer of iron ore with its 1 billion tonne a year steel industry absorbing about 70 per cent of global production, most of it supplied by Australia.
The biggest 5 spenders on imported iron ore are mainland China, Japan, South Korea, Germany and Taiwan. Combined, that quintet of major iron ore importers were responsible for 86.7% of the world's total purchases of imported iron ore during 2021.
Australia supplies about 60 per cent of the world's iron ore, netting around $150 billion in 2020/21. The vast bulk of those shipments, almost 80 per cent, finds its way to China.
China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) first published details of a five-year plan to slash iron ore imports in January this year, but there has been little reported discussion until now about how it would achieve the ambitious targets.
''Even if China could secure all the available non-Australian seaborne ore, including distant producers such as Sweden, Canada, Russia and Ukraine, it would still need to develop an additional 300 million tonnes of supply to meet its needs and completely replace Australia as an iron ore supplier by 2030,'' he says.
Australia exported $154 billion worth of iron ore last year, most of it to China, where it is a key ingredient in making steel and driving Beijing's economic stimulus.
China is the largest consumer of iron ore, used to feed its steel industry.
Iron and nickel: two sides of a magnetic coin
Iron ore is Australia's most valuable export, but a small part of Russia's economy.
The price of Iron TMT Bar products is between ₹39.3 - ₹70 per Kg during Mar '20 - Dec '22. These are indicative values based on popular product prices.
Scrap Metal Buyers also offer evaluation, recycling, and purchasing services for iron parts. Iron is sorted in two types, the cast iron which is purchased at $ 0.06 - 0.07 per pound, and light iron at $ 0.03 per pound.
Yandi Mine in Western Australia, was the largest iron ore-producing mine in Australia, producing approximately 80.7 million tonnes of iron ore and an estimated 60.2 million metric tons per annum (mmtpa) of Run-of-Mine (ROM) in 2021. The Yandi Mine is owned by BHP, and is due to operate until 2023.
Mainland China is still by far the top destination for Australian iron ore, accounting for 79.9% of Australia's exports in 2021. Shipments to Mainland China decreased by -4.1% y-o-y to 704.8 mln t in 2021.
The worth of financial assets would fall by one fifth on average, and by one quarter in Australia. An end to trade across a bamboo curtain would hit Australia, since we export more resources to China than anywhere else and we import more goods from China than anywhere else.
“First, it would mean too big a disruption to the Chinese economy.” Iron ore imports from Australia are worth $85 billion annually, and so far, the agricultural imports hit by China's tariffs and bans are worth just $6 billion, he said. “China would not be able to make up its iron ore needs from other sources.”
What's the plan? The goal is to tackle what Beijing says is a power imbalance between a clutch of global mining giants on the one hand and China's vast but fragmented steel industry on the other. China imports 1.1 billion tons of iron ore annually, at a cost in 2021 of about $180 billion.
Australia's iron ore resource base is capable of sustaining production for at least six decades, according to the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA).
India imports Iron Ore primarily from: Bahrain ($52.2M), South Africa ($50M), Ukraine ($8.93M), Australia ($6.8M), and Finland ($5.07M).
While Russia's economy is only slightly larger than Australia's economy, comprising just 1.7% of global GDP, the invasion of Ukraine is crimping global confidence and exacerbating concerns around inflation, given Russia is a major global resources supplier.
Australia once had a huge steel making industry, but labour costs are too high, and it is more profitable to export the raw materials and cheaper to import the finished product, thus making far more profits by building stuff that we in turn export.
Relations with China are one of the most important aspects of Australia's foreign policy. As an emerging great power in our region with whom Australia is developing a major economic relationship, good relations with China will become an increasingly prominent feature of Australia's international interests.
Over 8 million tonnes was coking coal which is essential for the production of steel, while about 6 million tonnes were thermal coal which generates electricity. There has since been no further imports of Australian coal, according to China customs.