https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-11-23/can-australia-wield-an-iro...

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-11-23/can-australia-wield-an-iron-fist-with-china/12909188



Why China's trade bans don't extend to iron ore

There's one commodity conspicuously absent from Beijing's hit list of Australian exports.

Iron ore is the lifeblood of the Chinese economy. Every time the country encounters another financial hiccup, Beijing opens the stimulus floodgates, pouring cash through the banking system and ramping up infrastructure spending.

China's great urban expansion depends almost solely upon iron ore. And for that, it depends upon us.

While a major iron ore producer itself, China's supplies of the key steel-making ingredient are low grade and expensive. In fact, material shipped out of the Pilbara in Western Australia can be landed at Chinese ports at lower cost than local supplies.

In the year to June, we provided 62 per cent of China's iron ore imports. Brazil came in as the second biggest supplier with around 21 per cent.

That puts Australia in rather a unique strategic position. Without our raw material, China's economy would take a near terminal hit, a fact that wouldn't have gone unnoticed in Washington.