Project Description
- The World Steel Association estimated Chinese crude steel output in the first seven months of 2023 at 626.5 million tonnes, up 2.5% year-on-year. India’s output over the same period totaled 79.9 million tonnes, up 9.0% year-on-year.
- Baosteel reported at the end of August that China will continue to implement a cap on growth of steel output this year. The state-owned company confirmed that China will need to cut back on steel production over the remainder of the year to match last year’s output.
- Rio Tinto and a consortium of Chinese state-owned enterprises have announced that they had reached key agreements with the government of Guinea to build a trans-Guinean railway. Over 600 kilometres of rail with port facilities would unlock the world’s largest undeveloped deposit of high-grade, low-impurity iron ore in the Simandou mountain range. It has been agreed that the cost of the railway will be shared equally between the groups developing blocks 1 and 2 in the north and blocks 3 and 4 in the south. The Chinese decision to support the plan can be seen as a move to wean itself off reliance on Australian iron ore supply and signals a long-term boost to Capesize bulk carrier demand.