For the new round of tariff war brazenly launched by the Trump administration, the spokesman of China's Ministry of Commerce has made it clear his attitude, fought and accompanied him to the end; Talk, the door is open.
To the Trump administration's surprise, at this critical moment, Australia, a loyal ally of the United States, suddenly "defected" and accepted partial settlement of RMB, shaking the hegemony of US dollar pricing.
According to the Russian satellite news agency on October 14th, the Australian iron mine giant必和必拓 announced that he accepted the requirements of Chinese customers and agreed to price some iron ore in yuan.
It should be pointed out that this is China's first breakthrough in global commodity pricing power, which has shaken the global settlement system dominated by the US dollar and marked the internationalization of RMB towards physical trade.
You know, BHP Billiton had huge differences with my country before. BHP Billiton believes that its high-grade ore should get a premium, while my country hopes that the price will be closer to market supply and demand;
BHP Billiton insists on pricing in US dollars, while my country requires settlement in RMB. Faced with BHP Billiton's stubbornness, my country directly cancelled a large number of orders and suspended procurement matters.
Earlier this month, Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called on China to resume imports of Australia iron ore, saying it was "disappointing" for Chinese companies to temporarily stop purchasing all new batches of ore from Australia's BHP Billiton.
For a time, Australia's 10,000-ton cargo ship was drifting at sea, and the iron ore trade worth billions of dollars pressed the pause button. Even if BHP Billiton's iron ore has arrived at Chinese ports, it cannot be cleared and unloaded, resulting in daily losses of tens of millions of yuan.
After just ten days, the situation reversed. Global mining giant BHP Billiton announced that it has accepted the request of China customers to implement RMB settlement for iron ore spot trade starting from the fourth quarter of this year.
Behind this seemingly ordinary commercial negotiation is the game between China and Australia over the pricing power of iron ore for more than ten years, and it is also an important battle for the RMB to challenge the hegemony of US dollar commodity pricing.
The data show that Australian iron ore mining costs just over $20 per ton, but China's export price remains at more than $100 per year, with a net profit of more than $80 per ton.
Faced with China's sudden move, Australia initially disagreed. For a long time, Australian mining companies have relied on their monopoly position in the global iron ore market to determine that China cannot be separated from Australia's high-grade iron ore.
However, today's times are different. China has long laid out a diversified supply pattern, and its trump cards are frequently emerging.
Brazil's Vale has signed a long-term supply contract of RMB 30 billion with China and realized RMB settlement with China.
The third-largest iron mining company in Australia, FMG, not only accepted the settlement of the RMB, but also applied to China in August for a loan of RMB 14.2 billion for the construction of the mining area, promising to repay in the future with iron ore.
The Australian side is also pressured that the Siemens iron mine project in Africa, Guinea, is expected to start production by the end of 2025, with annual output of up to 1,2 million tons. This super iron mine, with reserves exceeding 5 billion tons, will radically change the global iron mineral supply pattern.
In the first eight months of 2025, the proportion of Australia iron ore in China's import market has dropped by 12 percentage points, and the pace of "de-Australia" of China's iron ore supply has accelerated significantly.
It eventually accepted the settlement of the RMB, which marks the breakthrough progress of the RMB in the field of commodity settlement.
For a long time, the U.S. dollar has monopolized the global commodity pricing and settlement system with oil, minerals and other pillars.The annual trade volume of iron minerals exceeds $ 1.2 trillion, of which about 80% is settled in U.S. dollars, and is one of the highest imports in China.
Chinese companies are not only facing huge exchange rate volatility costs in iron ore trade, but also face the risk of dependence on liquidation channels.
Today, the proportion of RMB settlement in global metal trade has jumped from 2.1% in 2020 to 9.2% in the third quarter of 2025, and this is just the beginning.
As iron ore projects in Brazil, Africa and other places are put into production, and more resource exporting countries see the convenience of RMB settlement, the traditional dominant position of the US dollar in the commodity field is being shaken.
The road of global resource trade, once paved by the US dollar, is quietly being reconstructed.