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Iron ore

Opinion

Stephen Bartholomeusz Senior business columnist October 1, 2025 — 12.00pm

China’s long-running attempts to wrest pricing power back from the major iron ore miners appear to be intensifying, with reports that in the midst of price negotiations, China’s state-owned iron ore trader has told steel mills to temporarily stop buying BHP’s ore .

While the reports haven’t been confirmed – BHP doesn’t comment on its commercial negotiations and there’s been no official statement out of China – they would be consistent with the country’s attempts to counter the concentrated market power of the major iron ore miners, particularly the Australian heavyweights who account for about 60 per cent of China’s iron ore imports.

According to Bloomberg, China Min

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