Australia's Iron Ore Miners Need a Plan
07/30/2024 - Iron ore is Australia’s most exported commodity. But with demand from China looking to be on the decline and with new iron ore capacity set to come on-line in other parts of the world, the Australian industry should take time to reevaluate its strategy, according to a report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.
“Simply digging and shipping has worked very well for Australia in recent decades. But now is a good time for Australia to seriously think about what its iron ore sector needs to look like going forward,” the institute said.
One possibility, it said, is to shift toward mining more magnetite, which is more easily processed into pellet suitable for direct-reduction furnaces.
“With green hydrogen exports looking structurally expensive, there is an opportunity to process Australian high-grade ore, using domestically produced green hydrogen, into ‘green iron’ for export to steelmakers globally. South Australia is now leading nationally with its new Green Iron and Steel Strategy and the launch of an Expressions of Interest process for a new DRI project using the state’s high-grade iron ore reserves,” the institute said.
You can read more here.
One possibility, it said, is to shift toward mining more magnetite, which is more easily processed into pellet suitable for direct-reduction furnaces.
“With green hydrogen exports looking structurally expensive, there is an opportunity to process Australian high-grade ore, using domestically produced green hydrogen, into ‘green iron’ for export to steelmakers globally. South Australia is now leading nationally with its new Green Iron and Steel Strategy and the launch of an Expressions of Interest process for a new DRI project using the state’s high-grade iron ore reserves,” the institute said.
You can read more here.
