Iron ore at the Xinsu Port Terminal in Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province, China, on Dec. 7.
Source: NurPhoto/Getty Images
China Is Taking On Mining Giants to Reorder a $190 Billion Market
Beijing is using a powerful but opaque entity to challenge the pricing clout of the world’s top iron ore producers.
China has sought for decades to turn its clout as the world’s largest commodities consumer into pricing power. With iron ore — the most traded raw material after oil, and the backbone of global economic expansion — it is closer than ever to success.
The engine behind the current campaign is China Mineral Resources Group Co., an opaque company directly under the country’s central government which has been locked in a confrontation with mining giant BHP Group Ltd. for months. This is already the most significant commercial clash in nearly two decades between the country and one of its top suppliers, and has sent shockwaves through the industry.