Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he was concerned about a report that China’s state-owned China Mineral Resources Group (CMRG) had taken steps to pause purchases of iron ore cargoes from BHP, reported Reuters.
A Bloomberg News report cited that CMRG had asked the country’s steelmakers and traders to pause purchases of BHP’s seaborne iron ore cargoes during annual price negotiations. BHP is China’s third-biggest iron ore supplier.
“I am concerned about that and what we want to make sure is that markets operate properly,” Albanese told reporters.
“We have seen those issues in the past. I want to see Australian iron ore to be able to be exported to China without hindrance.”
China, the world’s largest iron ore consumer, buys about 75% of global seaborne iron ore and set up CMRG three years ago to buy ore on behalf of its steelmakers to gain more leverage as a large, single buyer.
Source: Reuters