Comment on Steely brinksmanship: China’s iron ore power play jolts Australia by archonnovaberner

['Marina Yue Zhang', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img', 'Height Auto Max-Width', 'Vertical-Align Bottom .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Vertical-Align Middle .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar Is .Alignleft .Alignright'] Comments for Asia Times 2025-10-02 10:33:36

The difference now is that iron ore matters more than any of those products combined. Nearly 60% of Australia’s exports to China in the year to May 2024 were iron ore. Despite being the world’s biggest buyer of iron ore, China has long had little influence over the price. China’s steel mills rely heavily on Australian iron ore. Photo: CHINATOPIX / AP via The ConversationThe standoff: who holds the cards? By flexing now, Beijing may be signalling that future cooperation on green steel will come with conditions.