With the price of both coking and thermal coal and gas in undersupply with no end in sight due to events in Europe and stupidity in China, steel producers will be forced into using cheap green energy (eg Australia) at source. This has huge implications for HIO as it's ore is the best for this type of energy input, second only to ever tightening supplies of scrap:
Half of China steel demand is now evaportaing due to the propery bubble bursting, lucky this is not HIO's market:
Twiggy is full steam ahead with hydrogen.... just 2 problems for him to solve yet:
1/ His technology creates energy wasting bubbles of hydrogen and oxygen vs Woolongong Universities capillary water splitting that doesnt. His hydrogen will cost ~$3kg when it needs to be closer to $2 unless he switches tech. 2/ He has to get the hydrogen to Germany.... either through new massive specialised ships or conventional carriers which means converting it to NH3 (ammonia) .... very expensive either way. Far cheaper for the German steel industry to move here... and use high grade magnetite... which along with Ironbridge.....HIO has!
You have to feel for poor old RIO, damned if they do, damned if they don't, can you imagine the dictators in Guinea ever actually repaying their free carried rail interest or the Chinese eventually not bribing their way to full control? Africa is littered with defunct rail systems, the guerillas in the next coup attempt are bound to target it to cripple the last one.
