Next to "All the hype in the media about CCP" as you said and...

Next to "All the hype in the media about CCP" as you said and the increasingly threatening Ukraine war "China aims to “fundamentally” solve the shortage issue in steelmaking ingredients in 10-15 years, Luo Tiejun, the vice-chairman of the China Iron and Steel Association, was quoted as saying, citing what he called a “cornerstone plan”."

As always, there are 2 sides to the coin:
"It proposes raising China’s share of overseas iron ore production from 120 million tonnes in 2020 to 220 million tonnes by 2025, according to Luo. It aims to boost domestic iron ore output by 100 million tonnes to 370 million tonnes and steel scrap consumption by 70 million tonnes to 300 million tonnes over the same period.
China, the world’s top steel producer, consumes over a billion tonnes of iron ore a year, with more than 80% coming from imports. It has been encouraging companies to invest in iron ore mines at home and abroad to secure resources and gain pricing power."
view: https://www.mining.com/web/china-plans-sharp-increase-in-overseas-iron-ore-output-by-2025-state-media/

So maybe "Xi's attempt to cap prices last year was unsustainable . . ."
but it led us down a sharp path, as you can see

and the main reason for the last strong increase in IO prices see my post as of

24/02/22

05:12

Post #: 59776113

the date when Ukraine invasion was started.
And that current attempt was also successful, see the last dip from $152 to $137, but not sustainable in new Ukraine war situation.

I agree with you though "Looks like we are heading back..." but from that date above we have a turning point in history, like chancellor Scholz in Germany said. So take notice: Ferrexpo -producer of iron ore pellets in Ukraine- declares force majeure as Ukraine exports halted.

Finally, I have a lot of sympathy for the people in Ukraine and I hope this madness will end one day, better sooner than later.