MELBOURNE, March 14, 2026, 08:16 AEDT
Shares in BHP Group Ltd closed at A$49.80 on Friday, slipping 2.3% after China raised the pressure on the company’s iron ore shipments. Reuters, late in the day, said Chinese authorities would temporarily allow steel mills to accept deliveries of Jimblebar fines—a fine-grained ore—from BHP for roughly a week. One restriction gets a brief pause, but the broader standoff remains unresolved. 1
BHP had been a standout on the ASX after posting a half-year profit that beat forecasts, and with a dividend payout that topped expectations, the shares hit a record in February. For the first time, copper pulled ahead of iron ore in first-half operating earnings. “They smashed everyone’s expectations from a dividend perspective,” said Argo Investments portfolio manager Andy Forster. But this week’s drop underlines that investors are still tough on BHP when it comes to Chinese iron ore exposure. 2
China Mineral Resources Group has told mills and traders they won’t be able to take delivery of Newman fines—a popular BHP ore grade—starting late next week, according to Reuters on Thursday. Buyers now have five working days to clear out current cargoes. With traders worried that more BHP shipments might pile up at ports, April’s benchmark iron ore contract in Singapore spiked over 4%, settling at $108.95 a tonne. 3
Traders saw this as BHP’s mess alone, not a sector-wide issue. Rio Tinto jumped 3.1% and Fortescue climbed 4.1% Friday, lifted by stronger ore prices, even as BHP shares slipped. 4
Last month, Mike Henry flagged that negotiations with China’s state buyer were proving tougher than in previous years. “This year, fair to say, (it’s) probably a little bit wider than it’s been in the past,” the BHP chief executive said, though he remained upbeat about reaching a deal. On the fiscal side, Australia’s resources minister Madeleine King noted that a $10 swing in iron ore prices shifts the country’s 2025-26 tax take by A$500 million. 5
Back in January, BHP flagged that the dispute was already taking a toll on realised prices—the cash it pulls in from actual sales—on certain ore cargoes. RBC’s Kaan Peker noted the curbs would “likely to tighten spot market availability” for shipments needing quick delivery, keeping benchmark prices buoyant despite BHP swallowing bigger discounts on some of its ore. 6
BHP plans to deliver its interim dividend of 73 U.S. cents per share on March 26, the company’s website shows. The board locked in a 60% payout ratio with its February results. 7
Friday’s one-week reprieve for Jimblebar looks tactical rather than permanent, traders told Reuters — they’re still bracing for possible new curbs on other BHP grades. BHP shares are moving in a local market rattled by wild, war-fueled swings in oil prices and risk appetite, after A$130 billion vanished from the ASX in a single week earlier this month. 3
