First Liberian Iron Ore Shipment Docks for World’s Largest Steel Producer
The first shipment of products from the Baowu Liberia iron ore project arrived at Zhenjiang Port, and the project in neighboring Guinea is accelerating.
According to the latest news from China Baowu, the world’s largest steel company, on the afternoon of October 12, the “Changhai Binhai” ship, which had been sailing for more than a month, entered the river from the sea and successfully berthed at the No. 10 berth of Zhenjiang Port, Jiangsu. The “Changhang Binhai” ship is fully loaded with 45,000 tons of iron ore products from Liberia. This is also the first overseas self-produced iron ore product since Baowu Resources, a subsidiary of China Baowu, accelerated the development and construction of overseas resources.
China Baowu said that this marks the integration of the entire process of Baowu Resources’ Liberia project from production to transportation to sales. It is an important step for Baowu Resources to improve the balance of global ore supply and demand, increase Baowu’s ore self-sufficiency rate, and strengthen the protection of national strategic mineral resources. , the latest achievement in creating a reasonable pattern of benefit sharing for the upstream and downstream of the steel and metallurgical value chain.
Previously disclosed information shows that the iron ore resources of the Liberia Bang Mine Project are approximately 1.436 billion tons, with an average iron grade of 35.48%. It is an important project in the overseas resource development sector of Baowu Resources and one of the largest investment projects in Liberia so far. Liberia was once the world’s third largest iron ore exporter, but the ongoing civil war in the country hampered infrastructure construction and iron ore development.
Liberia is only the beginning of Baowu Resources’ overseas strategy in Africa. Its neighboring country Guinea is becoming the next larger source of iron ore. The Simandou Iron Mine, located in Kairouane Province in southeastern Guinea, is the undeveloped iron ore with the largest reserves and the highest quality in the world. It has an initial annual production capacity of 120 million tons of high-quality iron ore.
Previously, on September 30, 2022, Baowu Resources and Win Alliance Simandou Holdings Company (Singapore) held cloud signings of the core terms of the cooperation agreement in Shanghai and Beijing regarding the cooperation on the northern block project of Simandou Iron Ore in Guinea. ceremony. This is also the official announcement of China Baowu’s “entry” into the northern Simandou project.
The project is also accelerating. On the afternoon of October 7, Baowu Resources and Simangdu Win Alliance signed a confirmation letter of shareholder agreement for the Simangdu Northern Block Project Mining Joint Venture Company at Baowu Building. Simandou Win Alliance (WCS) is a consortium formed by Singapore’s Winning International Group and Weiqiao Entrepreneurship Group. It holds the mining rights of the northern block of Simandou (Blocks 1 and 2).
The Simang Duying Alliance has an annual bauxite production capacity of 50 million tons in Guinea and experience in the construction and operation of the Dar-Saint-Saint-Saint-German Railway. It has unique advantages in ports, transfers, and ocean transportation.
Hu Wangming, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of China Baowu, pointed out at the signing of the contract on October 7 that the security of ore resources is related to national strategy, and the Simandou project is of great significance to the security and resilience of the industrial chain and supply chain of China’s steel industry.
It is worth mentioning that as substantial progress has been made in “going overseas” to find resources, Baowu Resources is also simultaneously building its iron ore supply chain in the Yangtze River Basin. On August 18 this year, Baowu Resources was jointly invested and established by Baosteel Resources Holdings (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Baowu Resources, and Zhenjiang Port Group Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Jiangsu Port Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Jiangsu Port”). Zhenjiang Mining Technology Co., Ltd. was officially unveiled. The company is taking the lead in the construction project of the ore blending base in Dagang Port Area.
Zhenjiang Dagang Port Area is located at the intersection of the Yangtze River and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, radiating along the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River and steel plants along the canal and Huaihe River. It has excellent logistics conditions and is a first-class port open to the outside world. It has railway shipping capabilities and a large iron ore operation volume. Ranking second among the ports on the Yangtze River, it is an important non-mainstream mineral trading base within the Yangtze River.
After the project is completed and put into operation, it will become the second iron ore silo of Yanjiang Iron and Steel Company. According to the current plan, the project will be carried out in phases. The first phase will build a mixed ore processing base, and the second phase will further expand the integrated business capabilities of port, processing and trade.
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