Rio Tinto's African Project Supply Floods the Market, Iron Ore Faces "Crash Point" in 2025

According to a feature article in the Australian Financial Review published the day after Christmas, with the long-anticipated new supply from Rio Tinto's Simandou project in Guinea, Africa, increasing the massive inventory at Chinese ports, and the proposed tariff hikes by the US under Trump expected to hit steel demand in the world's second-largest economy, iron ore prices are expected to remain below $100 per mt for most of next year. While the market is divided over the scale and effectiveness of stimulus policy in China, the world's largest iron ore buyer, experts generally believe that the Chinese government will introduce further fiscal support measures by 2025, which should help cushion further declines in raw material prices for steel.