China Baowu and Rio Tinto celebrate Bao-Hi Ranges joint venture project’s achievement of 200 million mt iron ore shipment target

SHANGHAI, Oct 16 (SMM)—China Baowu and Rio Tinto gathered on October 15 to celebrate the completion of the 200 million mt iron ore shipment target of their joint venture Bao-Hi Ranges project, marking an important milestone.

Bao-Hi Ranges was established in 2002, with Rio Tinto and China Baowu owning 54% and 46% of the joint venture respectively. Since the commissioning of the Eastern Ranges mine in 2004, iron ore of Bao-Hi Ranges has been supplied exclusively to China Baowu, which has made a huge contribution to the development of mining in Western Australia and the stability of China Baowu's raw materials. 

Chen Derong, chairman of China Baowu, said that China Baowu's steel output this year will exceed 100 million mt. Chen added that China Baowu will vigorously promote the reorganisation in the steel industry in the future in accordance with the requirements of supply-side structural reforms. China Baowu aims to be a “leader in the global steel industry” and hopes to carry out extensive cooperation in the development of green and low-carbon metallurgy.

Iron ore prices in the spot and futures market fell for five consecutive days after the National Day holidays, with port spot prices down 10-20 yuan/mt on October 15. Most steel mills slowed down raw material purchases amid pessimism on steel prices. Some steel mills that began to suffer losses restocked as needed. Operating rates of blast furnaces at steel mills dropped 0.78 percentage point from pre-holiday levels to 88.2% in the first week after the long holidays due to environmental protection restrictions, weighing on iron ore demand.