RIO Tinto is celebrating more than 50 years of shipping iron ore to China to be used in the steel that has built much of that nation’s infrastructure.
On 18 July, a shipment of iron ore loaded at Dampier Port and bound for China Baowu Steel Group, marked a milestone of 4 billion tonnes of iron ore shipped from the Pilbara to China.
Rio started shipping iron ore 51 years ago, with 22,000 tonnes sent from Dampier Port to China’s Shanghai No.1 Steel Mill, which has since become part of China Baowu.
China is Rio Tinto’s biggest customer with about 250 million tonnes of iron ore shipped each year.
Rio Tinto partnered with China for the country’s first ever investment in a foreign mining project, and its largest ever foreign investment at the time, by forming the Channar joint venture in 1987. That JV in Western Australia laid the foundation for many projects to follow.
Rio Tinto’s newest mine, Western Range, is the latest joint venture partnership with China Baowu with production from the mine expected to begin in 2025, with an annual capacity of 25 million tonnes of iron ore.
Rio Tinto Iron Ore chief executive Simon Trott said China has been a critical partner for Rio Tinto and for Australia’s mining industry for more than fifty years.
“China’s strong demand for high-quality minerals such as iron ore has generated substantial opportunities for investment and trade between the two countries,” Mr Trott said.
“Every time I visit China and see the skyscrapers, the high-speed rail, and all the infrastructure that has helped improve the lives of 1.4 billion people, it makes me proud to think that most of what I see contains steel that was made with Rio Tinto iron ore.
Four billion tonnes is enough iron ore to produce the steel needed for about 45,000 Sydney Harbour Bridges, or more than 23,000 Beijing National Stadiums.
“We look forward to continuing our relationship with China well into the future as we continue to deepen our strategic partnership.”
