Western Australia is now the world’s biggest iron ore supplier since it has a lot of high-quality iron ore and recently found a 55 billion metric tonne deposit. Now, a lot of people are curious about how this would affect the country’s export markets and the price of iron ore throughout the world.
The fresh resource found in the Hamersley area is worth around US $6 trillion and has caused a lot of problems in the worldwide business. Experts currently think that major steel-producing countries will spend a lot more money in this important resource. That’s fantastic news for Western Australia because it entails big improvements to the infrastructure, including new mining operations, better transportation systems, and better port facilities. The ore in the state has more than 60% iron, which makes it perfect for industrial application.
Australia sends China more than 65% of the iron ore it needs to make steel, making China the world’s biggest steel maker. Finding this new deposit might help keep iron ore prices stable over the long term and make China less dependent on smaller suppliers.
Paraburdoo Gets a New Mining Facility
And there’s even more. A new mine opened in the Hamersley area over the weekend, with big investments from both Australia and China. China Baowu Steel Group (46%) and Rio Tinto (54%) are working together on the project. After the first US$2 billion investment, the project will have a capacity of 25 million metric tonnes. Experts say it might keep on for the next 20 years.
The new mine is near the Paraburdoo mining centre in Pilbara, where some of Australia’s finest iron ore resources are. He also stressed that the initiative shows how solid commercial ties are with important overseas partners. From 2025 to 2027, Rio Tinto aims to invest more than $13 billion into Pilbara.
New discoveries are likely to bring down the price of iron ore.
Analysts now say that global supply chains will change as a consequence of these new discoveries and continued investments. Countries that want to diversify may turn to Australia more and Brazil or African sources less. More iron ore shipments from Western Australia might help lower prices throughout the world. This will help industries like building and cars, and it will also make Australia a worldwide leader.
Iron ore has been the main driver of Australia’s economic development for a long time, as MetalMiner has said before. Since 2005, the country’s income from iron ore has gone up from US$5.2 billion (A$8 billion) to US$80.7 billion (A$124 billion). But Australia has to improve its mining and refining methods to keep up with the growing demand for high-quality, environmentally friendly ore.
China Will Probably Continue to Depend on Australia a Lot
China has always been an important partner, getting most of its ore from Australia. Brazil is in second place, providing around 18%. A few years ago, tensions rose when China stopped talking about trade with Australia because it was becoming closer to Western nations, mainly the U.S. But China couldn’t afford to lose access to Australian ore, and things have subsequently calmed down. China wants to be less dependent on other countries in the long run by using its own enormous iron ore deposits, even if its ore is not as good as Australia’s.
