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WA’s CME says Canberra’s fiscal upgrade is thanks to yet another Pilbara payload.

BudgetPremiumBusiness: Chalmers’ Budget a ‘missed opportunity’ for reform

Australia’s peak business lobby says the Federal Budget was a ‘missed opportunity’ to reform Australia’s economic settings to ‘shake off economic decline’.

Adrian Rauso

The Trump administration has lost in court again, with a ruling against ten per cent global tariffs. (AP PHOTO)

tCommentsPremiumUS trade court rules against Trump's latest global tariffs

The US Court of International Trade has ruled in favour of small businesses that challenged President Donald Trump's ‌global tariffs.

Dietrich Knauth

Rio Tinto chair Dominic Barton at the company’s AGM in Perth on Wednesday.

MiningPremiumRio Tinto spies big rewards in global ‘fragmentation’

The Iran war is a doubled-edged sword for Rio Tinto, with supply chain pressures offset by booming demand for minerals and metals thanks to global ‘fragmentation’ at a ‘60-year high’.

Adrian Rauso

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Prime Minister of Japan, Sanae Takaichi, speak after reaffirming commitments to regional security, trade partnerships, and the shared values of the two nations.

Federal PoliticsCommentsJapan’s PM raises red flag on China amid Australian visit

Japan’s visiting PM has raised concerns about China’s military rise during discussions with Anthony Albanese in Canberra, before signing several economic and security agreements

Andrew Greene

Donald Trump’s nominee to be the next US ambassador to Australia — David Brat — is an economics professor opposed to free trade.

World NewsVideoCommentsPremiumEverything we know about Trump’s Aussie ambassador nominee

Donald Trump’s nominee to be the next US ambassador to Australia — David Brat — is an economics professor opposed to free trade.

Stephen Johnson

BHP Brandon Craig

updated
updated
MiningCommentsPremium
updated
BHP confirms end to seven-month China standoff

BHP has finally confirmed an end to a tense trade standoff with China, ending seven months of negotiations as the Middle Kingdom sought to shift the balance of power with WA iron ore producers.

Daniel Newell

China's steel mills have been told they're again free to buy BHP's seaborne cargoes. (AP PHOTO)

BusinessPremiumChina lifts BHP iron ore bans after new executive’s visit

China has freed domestic mills to buy BHP iron ore products, signalling the end of a dispute after a visit to the county by BHP's bosses.

Staff Writers

BHP’s stand-off with CMRG — an opaque company directly under the country’s central government — is already the most significant commercial clash in nearly two decades between the country and one of its top suppliers.

MiningCommentsPremiumBHP leaps as China frees mills to buy some cargoes

China’s state-backed iron ore buyer has told several steel mills in the country they are allowed to purchase some BHP cargoes, an apparent concession in a months-long commercial dispute.

Alfred Cang and Katharine Gemmell

A navy vessel is seen sailing in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway through which much of the world’s oil and gas passes on March 1, 2026.

EnergyVideoCommentsPremiumWhat an Iran blockade will look like and how it will be done

The move comes as Iran has blockaded the Strait of Hormuz for weeks during the US-Israeli war with the country, a bottleneck that roiled global markets and strained the economy.

Garrett Downs

In normal times about 135 ships cross daily, and more than 800 freighters are stuck inside the gulf, mostly waiting to leave.

EnergyVideoCommentsPremium479 tankers still stuck after Iran closes Strait of Hormuz

The Strait of Hormuz remains largely blocked as shipowners try to understand if they can safely transit the vital waterway following a fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran.

Weilun Soon, Alex Longley and Julian Lee

With a vast steel industry that consumes more than 70 per cent of seaborne iron ore, China has consistently pushed for greater influence.

analysis
analysis
MiningCommentsPremium
analysis
China takes on titans to reorder a $275b iron ore market

China has sought for decades to turn its clout as the world’s largest commodities consumer into pricing power.  With iron ore, it is closer than ever to success.

Alfred Cang and Katharine Gemmell

It is not immediately clear how the new sales price and resulting US tariffs will be determined. (Julian Smith/AAP PHOTOS)

TradeCommentsPremiumTrump adjusts tariffs on steel, aluminium imports

The US will maintain a 50 per cent import tariff ‌on steel, aluminium and copper commodity imports but apply the rate to the prices paid by American customers.

David Lawder

World Trade Organisation (WTO) Director-General Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

TradeCommentsPremiumWTO talks end with no deal to extend e-commerce tariff ban

The WTO failed to extend a ban on e-commerce tariffs at its 14th ministerial conference, a setback for an organisation whose mission is under threat from US efforts to impose tariffs on trading partners.

Brendan Murray

A forklift passes the power plant at the Emirates Global Aluminium PJSC Al Taweelah plant in Abu Dhabi.

MiningCommentsPremiumAlcoa’s crucial WA alumina supplies face Hormuz deadlock

Deadlock in the Strait of Hormuz has upended trade between Alcoa’s cyclone-disrupted WA alumina operations and one of the world’s biggest aluminium producers, whose refinery was bombarded at the weekend. 

Simone Grogan

The Albanese Government is considering new so-called windfall taxes on the oil and gas industry to capture profits out of the Middle East crisis.

EnergyCommentsPremiumJapan hints at fuel-swap but warns against gas cash grab

Japan could be open to a fuel-swap deal with Australia’s LNG but has cautioned Anthony Albanese against taxing oil and gas exports saying it could hurt the bilateral relationship.

Caitlyn Rintoul

Fortescue chairman Andrew Forrest says China shouldn’t ‘poke the bear’.

MiningCommentsPremium‘Poke the bear’: Twiggy blasts China ‘cartel’ price tactics

Fortescue founder Andrew Forrest says China’s state-backed iron buyer shouldn’t ‘poke the bear’ and must quit using tactics aimed at negotiating lower prices for the key steel ingredient.

Paul-Alain Hunt, Katharine Gemmell and Stephen Engle

Vulcan Energy chairman Francis Wedin.

MiningPremiumMiners laud tighter Australia-EU trade ties

WA miners dealing with paralysing uncertainty brought by the Middle East conflict have lauded the prospect of an open door to new funding and trade opportunities with allies in the EU. 

Simone Grogan

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese MP and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, sign a trade agreement between Australia and the European Union.

Federal PoliticsVideoCommentsAustralia inks EU trade deal set to deliver $10b windfall

Europe is poised to overtake the US as Australia’s second-biggest trading partner after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen signed a blockbuster trade deal.

Latika M Bourke

The Lamb Creek iron ore project this month.

The West Australian exclusive
The West Australian exclusive
MiningCommentsPremium
The West Australian exclusive
MinRes brings online WA’s first iron ore mine of 2026

WA has its first new iron ore mine this year after Mineral Resources shipped maiden ore from its Lamb Creek project three months after breaking ground.

Adrian Rauso

The mills have about one week to move stockpiles at ports to their factories, and a similar timeframe to take Newman ores that have already been delivered.

MiningCommentsPremiumChina eases ban on BHP iron ore amid price rises

China’s state-backed iron ore trader has told steel mills that it’s temporarily easing restrictions on one of BHP’s grades, after worries over a broadening of bans sent prices rising this week.

Alfred Cang

BHP boss Mike Henry.

MiningCommentsPremiumInvestors lose faith in BHP staving off China

Investors have lost confidence in BHP’s ability to emerge victorious from an iron ore trade dispute with China after key products were added to a growing ban list.

Adrian Rauso

The CMRG meeting held in Beijing on Wednesday last week.

MiningCommentsPremiumWhy this Beijing meeting is bad news for every West Aussie

The organisation menacing the bedrock of WA’s economy has officially cemented its status as a key part of China’s political apparatus. 

Adrian Rauso

BHP's Jimblebar iron ore mine.

MiningCommentsPremium‘No new cargoes’: China presses steel mills on BHP ore

China’s state-backed iron ore buyer has summoned traders and urged them to refrain from buying new BHP cargoes to sell to buyers after they were found to be flouting a restriction on the purchases.

Katharine Gemmell and Alfred Cang

A container ship departs the Port of Newark for the Atlantic Ocean on September 30, 2024 seen from New York City.

TradePremiumUS judge rules companies entitled to Trump tariffs refunds

In a defeat for the Trump administration, a Federal judge in New York ruled on Wednesday that companies that paid tariffs struck down last month by Supreme Court are due refunds.

Paul Wiseman and Mae Anderson