The Volume of Iron ore imported by China from Australia was 712.99 Million Tonnes in 2020
The indicator recorded a historical grow at a CAGR of 2.16% between 2017 and 2020
Impact of COVID-19 on iron ore mining in China
China had the world’s fourth-largest crude iron ore reserves holding a significant position of the world’s total as of January 2021. These reserves are mainly found in the provinces of Liaoning, Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Sichuan and Shanxi.
China stood as the world’s fourth-largest iron-ore producing country in 2020. The production grew strongly in 2019; this was mainly supported by the resumption of mine production from March after the easing of COVID-19 restrictions. During the first quarter of 2020, several mines and plants had to temporarily cease production activities; deliveries and shipments were either delayed or were rescheduled to a later date, and there was a shortage of workers who could not return to mine sites owing to the prolonged Lunar New Year holidays, followed by transportation issues due to the lockdown.
Iron ore import in China from Australia
Relations between China and Australia began to cool from April 2020, when Australia called for an independent assessment of the COVID-19 pandemic. This led to China banning imports of seven categories of a commodity (coal, copper, barely, sugar, timber, wine and lobster) from Australia in November 2020. However, due to a lack of alternate markets, iron ore is not on the list of commodities that are banned by the Chinese government for imports from Australia, and Australia remained the largest supplier of iron ore to China in 2019 – helped by its higher quality and favorable transportation costs. Meanwhile, imports from other countries such as Brazil, South Africa and India total value was less than half of what China imported from Australia in 2020.
Brazil is the second-largest supplier of iron ore after Australia. Despite the country’s lower output, iron ore shipments to China total held a significant position in 2019.
Key iron ore producers in China
Anshan Iron and Steel Group Corporation
Anshan Iron and Steel Group Co. Ltd (Ansteel), headquartered in Anshan, China, is a producer and supplier of steel and metal products. The company offers pig iron, raw steel and rolled steel products. Its product portfolio includes wire rods, hot rolled steel sheets, heavy plates, medium plates, cold rolled steel sheets, cold-rolled silicon steel, galvanized steel sheets, color coated steel, seamless pipes and tubes and heavy sections. Ansteel’s products are used in various industries, including mining, rail, machinery, oil, shipping, electricity, construction, home applications, chemicals and automobiles.
HBIS Group Co. Ltd
HBIS Group Co. Ltd (HBIS), formerly Hebei Iron and Steel Company, is a manufacturer and supplier of iron and steel products, and is headquartered Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province, China. The company offers a range of products, including bars, wire rod, sections, hot-rolled strip steel, hot-rolled strip steel sheets, cold-rolled plates and galvanized sheets. It also offers color-coated heavy plates, pipes, vanadium pentoxide, titanium products, vanadium nitrogen alloys and ferrovanadium series. The company's products are used in automotive, petroleum, railway, bridge, construction, electricity, transportation, light industry, home appliances and other industries.
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