China wants to be more independent
By controlling iron ore extraction
And exploiting Africa
Welcome to China Uncensored.
I’m Chris Chappell.
The Chinese Communist Party wants to control everything.
That’s no surprise to anyone.
Unless you just woke up from a coma after a few decades.
In that case, I’d say go back to sleep, cause things are a mess right now and we’ll
probably need at least a few more years to sort it out.
Trust me, you don’t want to know.
What was I talking about?
Right.
The Communist Party especially wants to control natural resources.
China needs natural resources if it wants to go big on building tons of things cheap,
like electric vehicles, or infrastructure for its Belt and Road Initiative.
If only they didn’t waste so much on cities nobody lives in.
These look like those unrendered buildings off in the distance in N64 games that let
you know you’re going the wrong direction.
According to China’s latest raw material development plan, “The raw material industry
is the foundation of the real economy…It is a key area [for China] to gain international
competitive advantages.”
The problem for China is that it’s too dependent on other countries for raw materials, especially
iron ore.
Iron is a key resource for steel, which can be made into things like railroads, skyscrapers,
warships, and missiles.
And superhero suits… but only by genius, billionaire, playboy philanthropists.
China produces more than half of the world’s crude steel, but it currently needs to import
over 80 percent of the iron ore to do so.
60 percent of that comes from Australia alone, and that’s a big problem for China.
Relations between the two countries have been tanking, especially after Australia called
for an investigation into the origins of Covid-19 in Wuhan, China.
China didn’t take that lightly.
It sanctioned most Australian industries.
But not its iron ore.
China still needs Australia for iron ore.
But Australia’s waking up to the threat the Chinese Communist Party poses, and it’s
joined security partnerships to counter China, like the Quad and AUKUS .
If China were to invade Taiwan, it could face sanctions and lose access to essential materials
like Russia after it invaded Ukraine.
This is a huge problem.
“[China’s] lack of control over upstream mineral resources is an Achilles’ heel”
And the best way to cover an Achilles’ heel is with armor… which you need iron for.
Wow, this *is* a big problem for them.
But China wants to change that.
I’ll tell you how after the break.
Welcome back.
China wants to control global iron ore extraction.
It wants to do that through one big Chinese state-owned company.
The company is called China Mineral Resources Group.
It’s expected to oversee everything from buying iron ore from global suppliers to making
massive investments in mines.
And probably being the final boss in the new Minecraft DLC.
For a long time, China has complained about how iron ore pricing is determined by global
mining companies like Rio Tinto, BHP, and Vale .
According to Beijing, “We must improve the ore trading market system and form an open,
transparent, fair and reasonable pricing mechanism.”
Wow, that sounds so transparent, fair, and reasonable from a government that isn’t
any of that.
It’s like hearing a lecture about consent from Harvey Weinstein .
Don’t take whatever the Chinese Communist Party says at face value.
What they really want is a good deal.
One that benefits China’s economy and also punishes Australia.
“The idea is the Chinese side could make huge orders and demand steep discounts and
have huge sway over the future price of iron ore.
This comes after a couple of years of volatility where last year iron ore hit a record of more
than 230 US dollars a ton.
This was terrible for the profit margins of the Chinese steel producers.
It also undermined Beijing’s attempts to economically coerce Australia.”
It’s only fair that China calls the shots for the world’s iron ore, not Australia.
Can we really trust a country that enjoys Vegemite?
That stuff tastes like coal-flavored mustard.
But worse.
“[China] will also seek to boost domestic iron ore output and organize bigger investments
in overseas mines.”
This is part of China’s efforts to diversify iron ore sources.
After all, why rely on Western countries when you can exploit resources from poorer countries?
China’s looking at you, Africa .
This is offensive.
Mainly to the British, because historically, exploiting resources from poorer countries
is their thing.
What you’re doing is cultural appropriation, China!
Chinese state-owned enterprises have signed a lot of iron ore extraction deals in Africa.
One was recently signed in Cameroon with Chinese company Sinosteel Cam earlier this year.
Locals weren’t too pleased when that happened.
“Cameroonians accuse Chinese miners of violating Cameroonian laws, which prohibit mining on
riverbeds, swampy areas and waterfalls.”
The Chinese were already extracting gold there, and they hadn’t really helped the Cameroonian
economy.
Workers were being paid less than $3 for 12 hours of work.
Breaking international laws, destroying the environment, and exploiting workers for slave
wages?
Literally everyone could have seen this coming.
Even Coma Guy.
But those workers were lucky enough to even get hired.
Chances are China will just bring their own workers instead of qualified locals for iron
ore extraction.
There are a lot of other countries China is signing iron ore deals with, such as Algeria
and the Republic of Congo.
But there’s one iron ore jackpot China has its eyes on.
The West African country of Guinea .
Guinea holds one of the world’s largest and purest untapped reserves of iron ore in
the Simandou mountains.
Simandou has an estimated 8.6 billion metric tons of buried ore.
That’s enough to forge steel for a hundred thousand Empire State Buildings.
At China’s current rate of consumption, “there’s enough ore in Simandou…to build
all of China’s airports, skyscrapers, cargo ships, and weapons for seven years”
Wait… they go through enough iron to build a hundred thousand Empire State Buildings
every seven years?
Is there anything they don’t use it for?
I’ve heard of iron rich diets, but this is ridiculous.
Careful when biting into that.
But the point is, Guinea is a great alternative to Australia.
So it’s no surprise that China is trying to get as much of the iron ore as possible
through a bunch of Chinese-backed companies.
Last year, Chinese workers began cutting mining roads and blasting tunnels for a 18 billion
dollar railway that would carry iron ore to a port about 420 miles away.
They’re destroying one of the world’s most biologically rich ecosystems in the process.
But hey, who needs biodiversity?
It’s not like the environment is an interconnected system, and massive damage to it in one part
of the world would affect it globally, right?
Locals aren’t too happy about this.
“Being there, the first thing you notice is the dust.
It’s everywhere in your hair and your eyes and all over the crops people are trying to
grow.
Water sources have been polluted, fishing stocks have declined, and jobs promised to
the community have yet to materialize in any large number.”
That area is dustier than a book about morals and ethics in the CCP’s library.
Polluted water and food aren’t the only issues.
Locals even have to watch out for dynamite blasts.
They say dynamite blasting has damaged a lot of houses without warning.
This is ridiculous.
No one should have dynamite as a day to day concern unless you’re a
Roadrunner or a Coyote.
Think the locals are getting compensated?
That’s the best joke in this entire episode.
“Most people can’t afford to build new houses with what they received, and there’s
no compensation for damaged buildings.”
Of course, iron ore isn’t the only natural resource China wants to squeeze out of Africa.
It’s going after Africa’s rare earth materials like lithium and cobalt.
Not even African fish are safe.
Yeesh.
Is it too late for
me to go into a coma for a few years?
Seems refreshing.
So, what do you think?
Leave your comments below.
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Once again, I’m Chris Chappell.
Thanks for watching China Uncensored.