Champion Iron secures $179.1 million from Nippon Steel, Sojitz for Canada project

Reuters | July 21, 2025 | 

The Kami open-pit iron ore mine is located to the south of Labrador City and Wabush in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Credit: Stantec

Australia’s Champion Iron Ltd said on Tuesday Japan’s Nippon Steel and Sojitz Corp will invest an initial C$245 million ($179.11 million) in its Kami iron ore project in Canada for an aggregate 49% interest.

The investment follows an agreement that the three companies entered into in December 2024 for the project, which Champion Iron acquired in 2021.

Following the initial closing, Champion will hold a 51% interest in the project, while Nippon Steel and Sojitz will have 30% and 19% stakes, respectively.

Nippon Steel, Japan’s largest steelmaker, recently closed its $14.9 billion acquisition of US Steel after an 18-month-long pursuit.

Champion expects the initial closing of the deal to occur in the second half of 2025.

Shares of Champion Iron rose as much as 4.6% to A$5.04 in early trade.

($1 = 1.3679 Canadian dollars)

(By Nichiket Sunil; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)

Iron ore price reaches multi‑month highs on China mega‑dam announcement

Staff Writer | July 21, 2025 | 

Three Gorges Dam. Credit: Wikipedia

Iron ore prices surged to their highest levels in nearly five months after China announced construction on a mega‑dam in Tibet.

Market optimism around renewed steel demand, along with ongoing stimulus expectations, bolstered prices. The September iron ore contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange climbed 2.08 % to ¥809/ton ($112.74), peaking at ¥819, the highest since February 26.

The Singapore Exchange’s August contract rose 2.81 % to $103.60 a tonne, its highest since February 27.

China announced that construction has begun on the world’s largest hydropower dam, a project expected to require three to four times more steel than the country’s 22,000-megawatt Three Gorges Dam, currently the world’s largest capacity hydroelectric power station.

“Iron ore and rebar futures markets are reacting positively to the announcement of the mega-dam project,” Atilla Widnell, managing director at Navigate Commodities in Singapore, told Reuters.

There is little doubt that its construction will significantly benefit local steel markets and could attract construction-grade steel from across China, especially given that it is 3-4X bigger than the Three Gorges Dam, Atilla added.

Steel mill margins also contributed to the run‑up, with mills in China increasing blast furnace activity.

Other steelmaking inputs rallied too: coking coal futures jumped 7.88 %, coke up 5.05 % on Dalian.

(With files from Reuters and Bloomberg)