[Text/Observer Network Xiong Chaoran] On September 30, local time, Bloomberg quoted anonymous people familiar with the matter as saying that China Mineral Resources Group Co., Ltd. has asked domestic buyers this week to suspend purchases of any dollar-denominatedmust and must.(BHP) Ocean cargo.
According to reports, this means that the signing of new contracts will be completely suspended, including iron ore cargo that has been shipped from Australia mines. Currently, BHP Billiton has only a small amount of spot iron ore that has arrived at China ports for trading, and these resources are all denominated in RMB.
According to people familiar with the matter, this decision was made after the two sides held several rounds of consultations since late last week, but failed to achieve results.
On October 1, local time, Australian Prime Minister Albany claimed that China's suspension of purchases of must and must iron ore was "disappointing" and hoped that the problem could be resolved quickly.
“I’d like to see Australian iron ore exports to China unhindered, which is important, not only for the Chinese economy, but also for the Australian economy.”
According to Bloomberg, China Mineral Resources Group requested steel plants to suspend the purchase of Jimblebar Fines in early September, and the ban on iron ore marks an escalation of action, showing China's determination to increase price influence.
Data map of an iron ore factory at BHP Billiton
China isly the world’s largest iron ore consumer, accounting for about 75% of global marine iron ore imports.
Three years ago, China established China Mineral Resources Group, which aims to uniformly purchase iron ore on behalf of domestic steel companies in order to gain more bargaining power as a single major buyer.
On the other hand, the world’s largest mining company is one of the three largest suppliers of most iron ore to Chinese steel manufacturers.
Reuters pointed out that iron ore is Australia's most valuable export product, but a report by the Australian government in June this year said that with the increase of global supply, iron ore export earnings may increase from the previous fiscal year by June next year. Fiscal year's 116 billion Australian dollars fell to 105 billion Australian dollars.
"We want to ensure that the market is functioning properly, and we have encountered similar problems in the past," Albanese responded on October 1 local time: "These measures are always disappointing, but we certainly want them to be short-term. Sometimes, these things happen when people negotiate prices. But I want to see this problem resolved quickly."
At present, China Mineral Resources Group Co., Ltd. did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesman for BHP said the company could not comment on the commercial arrangements.
Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that Australian Treasury Secretary Jim Chalmers will meet with Chief Executive Officer Mike Henry to discuss the issue.
Since mid-2017, Australia's Turnbull government and Morrison government have blindly followed the United States and undermined bilateral relations with China in all directions, including hyping up the "China threat theory", obstructing the normal economic and trade activities between the two countries on the grounds of so-called "national security", and responding to the United States and taking the lead in clamoring for a presumption of guilt "virus traceability investigation" against China. Since then, China-Australia relations and economic and trade exchanges have suddenly dropped to a trough.
At the same time, due to the existence of inappropriate aspects in the trade between the two countries, China has imposed prohibitive tariffs on Australian grapefruit and wine, suspending the export qualification of several Australian beef suppliers.The Chinese customs are also importing ports, and in accordance with the law on imported products including Australian lobster and coal to carry out inspection and inspection, as well as quality safety inspection and environmental protection projects.
In referring to China-Australia relations, Reuters that the diplomatic relations between the two countries have improved since the rule of the Labour Party, a center-left party led by Albania (May 2022).
Hong Kong's South China Morning Post also pointed out earlier that with the coming to power of the Albanese government, Australia began to consciously work hard to improve relations with China. At the end of March last year, China announced the cancellation of anti-dumping duties with a tax rate of up to 218.4% that has been implemented since March 2021.
Earlier, China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Cheng said in answering the question of China-Australia economic cooperation, China has consistently considered economic and trade cooperation to be the cradle of China-Australia relations, and China is willing to work with Australia to provide a fair, open and non-discriminatory business environment for companies from the other countries to invest in the other country, and to promote the continuous development of economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.
Exclusive texts of this section are not reproduced without authorization.