MELBOURNE, April 24, 2026, 06:18 AEST
BHP Group Ltd, the world’s third-largest iron ore supplier, has agreed to price its Jimblebar fines using a Chinese iron ore benchmark, according to people with knowledge of the deal. That move ended a protracted dispute with China Mineral Resources Group, which had been holding back on some BHP cargoes. Jimblebar fines are medium-grade, sold as small particles.
This shift hands Beijing’s state buyer more influence over imported ore pricing and takes a key risk off the table for BHP’s China iron ore earnings. The timing is notable: China’s buying curbs just dropped, and only days have passed since BHP posted a surprise beat for March-quarter iron ore output.
BHP and CMRG kept quiet about the pricing details. The contract stretches through the end of BHP’s 2027 financial year, according to an investor who was briefed by company executives. For Jimblebar, pricing now ties to a weighted average across four indexes—China’s COREX 61% portside index gets a 26% share. A source noted BHP will pay a 1.8% rebate per vessel on term shipments, and for certain larger ships, there’s also a freight-linked discount.
Launched last September, COREX tracks trades at Chinese ports instead of at sea and was introduced by the Beijing Iron Ore Trading Centre, which is seeking a firmer hand in setting prices for imports expected to reach $123 billion in 2025. BHP had used a fixed price or pegged Jimblebar cargoes to Argus and Mysteel’s seaborne indexes in the past. With this move, BHP becomes the second Australian miner after Hancock Prospecting to price cargoes off COREX.
BHP’s latest quarterly results offered some relief. Western Australia Iron Ore output came in at 69.8 million metric tons for the March quarter—above Visible Alpha’s 68.9 million ton estimate, and higher than last year’s 67.8 million. Jimblebar’s production nearly halved quarter-on-quarter to 10.9 million tons, but even so, overall volumes held up.
Copper eased off. Output for the March quarter dropped 7% year-on-year to 476.8 thousand tons, hit by weaker numbers at Escondida and Pampa Norte. Still, BHP maintained that full-year group copper production should finish in the upper half of its 1.9 million to 2 million ton forecast range. “Consistency of our operations,” was how Mike Henry summed up the results. Reuters
Investors welcomed the resolution to the China standoff. eToro analyst Josh Gilbert called it something that “quietly de-risks the iron ore earnings base.” BHP shares rallied, climbing up to 1.8% on Wednesday—hitting a peak not seen since March 3—after releasing its production figures and news of the contract. Reuters
The implications stretch past just BHP. RBC analyst Kaan Peker flagged a strategic shift if the company has moved toward multiple indexes or increased renminbi settlement and onshore delivery. Reuters last week noted that Rio Tinto and Fortescue have also experimented with different pricing indexes. And Rio, for its part, logged stronger Pilbara iron ore sales this week.
Still, the updated formula might put pressure on realized prices. Back in January, BHP flagged that talks with CMRG were already weighing on its price realizations. Miners and traders, for their part, eye COREX cautiously—it’s built on portside trades, carries little track record, and doesn’t reflect the seaborne market that underpins older benchmarks. For BHP, that likely means locking in volumes but giving up some leverage on price, if those deal terms catch on elsewhere.
Craig steps in as CEO on July 1, just as BHP pushes further into copper. Back in February, Reuters noted copper made up 51% of the miner’s first-half operating earnings—a first, beating out iron ore. Yet, the China agreement this week underlines BHP’s ongoing reliance on Pilbara ore and Chinese buyers.
