Overview

• China Mineral Resources Group asked domestic buyers to suspend purchases of any US dollar–denominated seaborne cargoes from BHP, according to people familiar with the matter.
• The move escalates earlier curbs that began with a halt on BHP’s Jimblebar blend fines earlier this month.
• CMRG also instructed mills not to take delivery of Jimblebar cargoes at Chinese ports or buy them on the yuan-denominated spot market.
• Several meetings between CMRG and BHP since late last week failed to yield agreement, the people said.
• Some Chinese steelmakers have started adjusting production parameters to use alternative ores, while BHP declined to comment and CMRG did not respond to inquiries.