Brazilian mining giant Vale SA has vowed to step up investment in low-carbon solutions along the steel value chain in China, according to its top executive.

Major Rio Tinto on Friday announced that the Simandou Joint Venture (JV) partners had concluded key agreements with the Republic of Guinea and the Winning Consortium Simandou (WCS) on the trans-Guinean infrastructure for the Simandou iron-ore project.

Vale on Monday lost a bid to block fellow mining giant BHP Group's bid to have it share potential liability in a 36-billion-pound ($46-billion) London lawsuit over Brazil's worst environmental disaster.

From January to June, the province's trade with countries along the Belt and Road rose 9.1 percent year on year to 97.26 billion yuan.

The MOFCOM began a review of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures over Australian barley at the request of relevant domestic industries, Shu said.

South Australian exports have risen to a record high on the back of a boost in trade with China.

Iron-ore major Fortescue has reported record iron-ore shipments for the full year ended June following a strong June quarter.

Rio Tinto is the first of the global iron ore majors expected to report lower half-year earnings from this week, as supply chains normalize after Covid-19 and attention turns to how suppliers to China’s steelmaking industry see customer demand.