#China spent ~ $180 billion on iron ore imports last year.
What will this mean for $RIO & $BHP?
China Mineral Resources Group established Tuesday with a registered capital of 20 billion yuan ($3 billion).
The company's business scope covers activities including mining, ore processing and trading agent, the data showed
The establishment of the company marks China's biggest effort yet to tackle what its officials have long argued is the excessive pricing power wielded by miners including BHP Group Ltd. and Rio Tinto Plc. China spent about $180 billion on iron ore imports last year.
The new entity will house outbound investments such as the Simandou iron ore project in Guinea, seen by China's leaders as the best route to ease the steel industry's reliance on Australian ore, said the people. It will also ideally become the sole channel for buying imported iron ore from third parties, most of which comes from either Australia or Brazil.
Bloomberg reported in February that China was planning a centralized purchasing platform for iron ore imports. The plan has been under consideration for years with the backing of senior leaders, the people said. At the very least, it will be a vehicle to consolidate several overseas iron ore investments including Simandou, as well as raw materials purchasing for a handful of China's biggest state-owned steelmakers.
See the whole article here: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/china-plans-iron-ore-giant-084448636.html
