Iron ore weakness to continue into 2025 and beyond, says Fitch Solutions’ BMI
Looking beyond 2024-2025, BMI analysts maintained their view that iron ore prices will likely follow a multi-year downtrend.
The Brisbane Times has an excellent quote from Rio Tinto chief executive, Tom Albanese, illustrating just how central iron ore has become for the company and the Australian economy.
Speaking at annual general meeting of the third largest miner in the world, Albanese said the idea that Australia had a “two-speed economy” – a booming resource sector versus a lacklustre industrial and services sector – was outdated.
Albanase told the meeting adding that outside of iron ore which contributes 75% of the Rio’s profits, mining investment is “coming off the boil” and fewer projects are being greenlighted:
“It’s not just resources versus the rest of the economy, it’s iron ore versus the rest of resources versus the rest of the economy.”
Rio Tinto in April withdrew from a $9 billion port expansion project at Queensland’s Abbot Point citing an uncertain global economic outlook.
In February Rio Tinto committed $3.4 billion for expansion of its Pilbara iron ore operations in Western Australia.
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However Iron ore is no good without coking coal, so why pull out of the Queensland port? Short sighted decision or covenient excuse?