MinRes expands Western Australia iron ore export plan

Market: Metals
26/04/21

Australian mining firm Mineral Resources (MinRes) has expanded its ambition for its South West Creek iron ore mining hub in Western Australia (WA) from 20mn t/yr to 25mn t/yr by widening the scope of its Marillana joint venture with Australian firm Brockman Iron.

The firms plan to take 3½ years to develop the mining hub, a transport system to take the ore across the 320km to Port Hedland and two new berths at Port Hedland. They will begin work on the mine sites, transport corridor and port area immediately with the injection of A$105mn ($82mn) from MinRes, despite not having received state government approval to build the two berths at Port Hedland at South West Creek.

The new joint venture adds Brockman's Ophthalmia project, which has a mineral resource of 341mn t of 59.3pc Fe ore, to the Marillana project that has reserves of around 378mn t at a beneficiated Fe of 60.5-61.5pc. The initial target is to produce 25mn t of iron ore for export through Port Hedland, although the two proposed South West Creek terminals at the port would have a capacity of 50mn t/yr.

Mineral Resources bought into the Marillana iron ore project in July 2018 from Chinese-controlled mining firm Brockman and the project has been delayed at least twice over the past three years due to approvals.

The development of the two new terminals would add to congestion at Port Hedland, which services UK-Australian mining firm BHP's iron ore exports as well as those from Australian firms Fortescue Metals and Roy Hill. All the mining firms are examining expansion options to allow them to benefit from strong iron ore prices that are driven by high steel prices in China.

BHP used 42mn t and Fortescue 58mn t of Class D port capacity in 2020 because they had used their allocation of Classes A and B, according to MinRes. Class D is opportunistic port capacity that is available to port users once they have reached their allocation under Classes A and B. This would fall below capacity allocated to MinRes' South West Creek in priority at the port, and potentially increase shipping delays for BHP and Fortescue.

The firms that use Port Hedland are lobbying the WA state government to make a decision on the development of South West Creek as quickly as possible to allow market participants to best capitalise on strong demand for WA iron ore.

Argus assessed the 58pc Fe grade at $163.65/dry metric tonne (dmt) cfr Qingdao on 23 April, down from a high of $165.40/t on 20 April but up from $97.35/dmt on 29 July. Argus also assessed the ICX 62pc Fe at $185.95/dmt cfr Qingdao on 23 April, down from $188.70/t on 20 April but up from $110/dmt on 29 July.

By Jo Clarke

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EU steelmakers ask for scrap export curbs

London, 12 November (Argus) — European steel producers association Eurofer continues to lobby the European Commission to curb scrap exports as the industry looks to decarbonise. On 12 November, Eurofer reiterated its view that the commission "recognise steel scrap as a strategic secondary raw material under the critical Raw Material Act, ensure the robust implementation and effective enforcement of the revised EU Waste Shipment Regulation to ensure compliance with the EU environmental standards in third countries and avoid circumvention, while securing a sustainable and diversified raw materials supply by leveraging bilateral Free Trade Agreements, granting reciprocal market access and eliminating illegal export bans and other distortions." EU scrap consumption is due to increase significantly in the coming years. "Scrap exports to third countries without comparable environmental and social standards [therefore] need to be restricted to ensure that the use of ferrous scrap generated in the EU contributes to sustainability objectives aligned with the EU ones," Eurofer said. The EU has long been a net exporter of ferrous scrap, with outflows of the material standing just shy of 11mn t in the first eight months of this year, customs figures show. Last year the EU exported 17.67mn t of ferrous scrap, a 5pc rise on the year. The bloc's trade has always been heavily focused on Turkey, the world's largest importer of ferrous scrap, with annual trade ranging from over half to two-thirds of total exported volumes in the past five years. Turkey, with around three-quarters of steel production based on electric arc furnace route, is heavily reliant on European-origin material. Turkey's share of EU exports increased in recent years after the UK left the EU, but the share of shipments from the bloc started rising from the second half of the mid-2010s, when Russia, another major ferrous scrap supplier to Turkey, started restricting exports. Russian exports of scrap to Turkey fell from around 2.5mn t in 2018, to 1.9mn t in 2019 and 2021 and to just over 400,000t in 2022-24. The EU's major trading partners for scrap include Egypt, India and Pakistan, all of which are third countries to the EU and non-OECD countries whose import volumes have been increasing as Asia continued to grow its steelmaking capacities, mostly through the IF (induction furnace) route. The EU's intention to restrict scrap exports has been deeply unsettling for the many developing markets' representatives, as much as its movement towards the implementation of CBAM (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism), which will reduce the possibility of exports to the EU from countries where steelmaking processes and carbon emissions are not compliant with the EU's stricter standards. By Corey Aunger and Katya Ourakova Annual EU-27 ferrous scrap exports metric tonnes Country 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Turkey 11,247,281.0 12,676,091.0 10,327,403.0 10,088,491.0 6,826,876.0 Egypt 1,076,930.0 1,810,866.0 1,431,831.0 1,570,352.0 1,237,722.0 India 443,130.0 294,994.0 1,108,881.0 1,906,608.0 576,008.0 Pakistan 853,178.0 727,466.0 700,879.0 731,182.0 371,943.0 Switzerland 455,034.0 511,098.0 463,440.0 339,894.0 355,709.0 Norway 314,627.0 294,956.0 396,933.0 451,873.0 309,299.0 Morocco 197,803.0 329,901.0 556,417.0 442,498.0 258,630.0 UK 361,741.0 307,281.0 307,173.0 275,125.0 203,786.0 US 622,523.0 574,264.0 316,077.0 694,507.0 182,064.0 Moldova (Rep. of) 251,184.0 344,609.0 79,788.0 192,964.0 179,579.0 Republic of North Macedonia 74,951.0 106,400.0 112,176.0 165,404.0 115,626.0 Bangladesh 107,611.0 149,570.0 700,108.0 388,936.0 91,410.0 Total 16,371,459 18,542,680 16,843,989 17,674,602 10,822,245 2024 data for January to August — Customs and Eurostat data Turkey's total and European scrap imports, 2010-24 Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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