Deepening low-carbon transformation, optimizing resource allocation, and managing market risks are jointly building industry resilience.

Against the backdrop of the global "dual carbon" goals, increasing energy price volatility, and growing supply chain uncertainty, the iron ore industry is breaking away from its traditional development model. With low-carbon transformation at its core, supported by efficient resource allocation, and safeguarded by market risk management, it is building a more resilient and sustainable industrial ecosystem, providing key support for the stable operation of the global steel industry chain and the green upgrade of the industry.

Deepening low-carbon transformation has become a core direction for industry development. Leading global mining companies are accelerating the implementation of low-carbon technologies. On the one hand, by widely adopting clean energy sources such as photovoltaics and wind power to replace traditional fossil fuels, one multinational mining group's iron ore project has achieved 70% renewable energy, reducing carbon emissions by over 1.2 million tons annually. On the other hand, by optimizing mining and processing techniques and promoting electric mining equipment and low-carbon mineral processing agents, carbon emissions per ton of iron ore production will be reduced from 85 kilograms in 2020 to 58 kilograms in 2024. At the same time, pilot applications of carbon capture and storage technology are underway in some large-scale mines, projected to reduce mine carbon emissions by another 30% by 2030, pushing the industry toward its "net-zero" emissions goal.

Optimized resource allocation supports the industry's sustainable development. Faced with the contradiction between the scarcity of high-grade iron ore resources and the high development costs of low-grade iron ore, the global industry is accelerating technological innovation to improve resource utilization. New intelligent exploration technologies can accurately locate deeply buried ore bodies, resulting in a 25% year-on-year increase in discovered low-grade iron ore resources. The promotion of efficient mineral processing processes has increased the iron recovery rate of low-grade iron ore from 55% to 78%, significantly expanding resource supply. Furthermore, cross-regional resource allocation mechanisms are continuously improving. By optimizing sea and rail intermodal transport routes, transportation efficiency for iron ore from supply sources such as South America and West Africa to demand sources such as Europe and Southeast Asia has increased by 18%, reducing logistics costs by 12%, and achieving efficient global resource transfer.

Improved market risk management capabilities are strengthening the resilience of industrial development. In response to the sharp fluctuations in global iron ore prices and geopolitical impacts on supply chain stability, industry players are actively exploring risk mitigation strategies: mining companies and steelmakers have signed long-term flexible supply agreements to limit the impact of price fluctuations on both parties to less than 10%. Trading in the iron ore futures and swaps markets continues to expand, with global iron ore derivatives trading volume increasing by 22% year-on-year in the first half of 2024. Companies are effectively mitigating price risks through hedging tools. Industry associations have established a global iron ore supply chain early warning platform to monitor risk factors such as logistics bottlenecks and policy changes in real time, providing companies with accurate risk warnings and response recommendations. In 2024, the platform successfully helped multiple companies mitigate delivery delays caused by port congestion.

Moving forward, with the further tightening of global low-carbon policies and the ongoing evolution of the market environment, the iron ore industry must continue to deepen its low-carbon transformation, optimize resource allocation, and strengthen risk management. This will enable it to meet challenges with a more resilient development model and contribute more to the sustainable development of global industry.