The first shipment of high-grade iron ore from Simandou's blocks 3 and 4 arrived at Rizhao port in eastern China's Shandong on January 21, providing the high-purity feedstock as the world's largest steel producer seeks to achieve low-carbon production.

The shipments were delivered by SimFer, a joint venture between the government of the Republic of Guinea, Rio Tinto and Chalco Iron Ore Holdings - a Chinalco-led joint venture of leading Chinese state-owned enterprises including China Baowu Steel Group.

Before entering the market, this batch of iron ore will undergo processing at a dedicated tertiary crushing facility located within the port.

The arrival marks the ship's second unloading at a Chinese port. Before dedocking at Rizhao port, the vessel, carrying nearly 200,000 tonnes of Simandou iron ore, first unloaded at Majishan port in Zhejiang on January 17.

Located in southeastern Guinea, Simandou is among the richest iron ore deposits worldwide. It holds reserves of over 4 billion tonnes grading at 65% iron content.