China has set a target of dramatically increasing ore imports from Chinese-invested resources in the steel industry during the period of 12th Five-Year Plan.
If China gets half of its overseas ore from Chinese-invested sources in the next 5-10 years, it will be able to break grip of the three major global miners, including Vale, Rio Tinto, and BHB Billiton, said Li Xinchuang, deputy secretary-general of China Iron & Steel Association (CISA).
As major global mining companies take advantage of falling short of demand to squeeze profits from Chinese steel mills, China has to seek to explore ore resources to reduce its reliance on the global big three.
The country's biggest steelmakers, including Baosteel, Wuhan Iron & Steel Corp. (Wisco) and Angang Steel have acquired or invested in overseas mines recently. It’s known that Wisco has set a goal of being self-sufficient in ore supplies by 2015.
In addition, Sichuan Hanlong made a recent bid for an iron ore project with identified reserves of 2.8 billion tons in West Africa. The company offered AUD 1.2 billion in cash to Australia-listed Sundance Resources to gain control of its ore project in West Africa last week.
Liu Han, the chairman of Hanlong, said that West Africa is emerging as a key region, as investment in Australia and Brazil faces a number of challenges.
( Source: www.yieh.com )