Sinosteel's acquisition of shares in Australia's oakajee port and railway

Sinosteel has recently acquired shares in Australia's oakajee port and railway owned by Japanese giant Mitsubishi, China Metallurgical News reported. Sinosteel group has previously spent $2 billion on the construction of weldrange iron ore project, which is the main mine in oakajee area. However, port and railway costs have greatly increased port tariffs imposed by the government, forcing Sinosteel to stop the development of weldrange in June 2011. Mitsubishi then acquired 50% of oakajee for $325 million. But by then, iron ore prices had begun to fall and remained low for a long time, so construction in the oakajee area was delayed. The acquisition indicates that if the port and railway facilities of oakajee are constructed, Sinosteel may vigorously develop the weldrange mine. In addition to the weldrange mine, Sinosteel group also owns the bluehills iron mine in the Midwest of Australia, which was closed in May 2015 after two years of operation.