From the West Australian:
China’s Baosteel has signalled that sagging iron ore prices will not hold back development of its West Pilbara iron project, recruiting former Iron Ore Holdings boss Alwyn Vorster to head up its local iron ore business.
Mr Vorster confirmed yesterday he had accepted the role as general manager iron ore at Aquila Resources, delisted from the stock exchange earlier this year after Baosteel and Aurizon closed a $1.4 billion takeover.
The poor outlook for iron ore prices has industry watchers discounting the likely development of multibillion-dollar iron ore projects, however Baosteel is pushing on undeterred.
Late last week, Red Hill Iron said it had agreed to an operating budget for its joint venture with Aquila, and it is believed Aquila’s other partners, POSCO and AMCI, have also agreed on operating budgets at the project.
It’s going to be pretty amusing watching this baby as iron ore descends to $65 next year. Baosteel will be OK given its goal is to direct ship ore to itself and keep prices down. But everyone else, including infrastructure providers looking for volume to justify returns, are going to be hung out to dry.
Wasn’t it WA Premier Colin Barnett that played a key role in bringing on this huge supply expansion that ensures prices will be crushed well into the future? Yes, yes it was…
