South Africa's Assmang is considering closing its Beeshoek iron ore mine.

According to China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as China Railway), in H1, national railways completed a total cargo shipment volume of 2.015 billion mt, up 1.8% YoY. It is reported that the railway department has carefully designed "passenger-train-like" express freight trains, operating freight trains with standards akin to passenger services to enhance cargo transport efficiency and punctuality. The benchmark demonstration express trains can reach a maximum speed of 120 km/h, with an average travel speed of 75 km/h, precisely matching the market demand for fast logistics such as e-commerce and cold chain. In H1, the railway department operated a total of 35,800 cross-bureau freight trains, shipping 38.56 million mt of cargo. Among them, 11,178 China-Europe Railway Express trains were operated, up 20% YoY.

US Steel has selected direct reduction technology developer Midrex to supply a 2.5 million mt/year HDRI/HBI MIDREX® Plant for its new DRI facility at Big River Steel in Osceola, Arkansas, which is expected to start production in 2029. According to Midrex, the project marks a key milestone for the North American steel industry, as it will be the first DRI facility in the US to integrate with EAF steelmaking and be supported by a domestic DRI-grade pellet supply chain.

South Korean steelmaker POSCO announced that it has launched a national R&D project together with Hyundai Motor Company and eight other industry, academic, and research institutions, aiming to develop next-generation high-efficiency silicon steel sheets for EVs and related motor technologies. POSCO leads the project, with participants including Hyundai Motor Company, SL, PolepairElectric, RIST, the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology (KITECH), the Korea Automotive Technology Institute (KATECH), the University of Ulsan, Pukyong National University, and the Korea Metal Materials Research Association (KOMERA).