In the heart of Algeria’s Sahara desert, Chinese state-owned giant China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) has completed track laying on the PK330 bridge, a final and critical link in a new railway designed to unlock the nation’s mineral wealth.
The 6 km (3.7 mi) bridge is part of the 950 km railway linking the Gara Djebilet iron ore deposit in southwestern Tindouf province to the industrial center of Bechar in the northeast.
It was “the most demanding railway engineering operation ever undertaken in North Africa”, the CRCC said on 10 December.
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The ore will be processed in newly established industrial complexes in the region and taken to Mediterranean ports. The bridge, part of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, was built in hostile conditions where temperatures of up to 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit) and shifting sand dunes required engineers to pour concrete at night to ensure structural integrity.
With the last 60km of line laid, the entire route is expected to be fully operational by January, according to Algerian officials. It will finally bring the Gara Djebilet mine into production, decades after its initial discovery in the 1950s. The mine aims to produce between 2 and 4 million tonnes of iron ore, eventually reaching 50 million tonnes per year by 2040.
Last month, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune ordered the rail link – which will facilitate exports from the warehouse – to be “in service immediately” and inaugurated in January. The first rail shipments are expected to reach the Tosyali steel complex, 40 km east of the city of Oran, in the first quarter of next year.
Algerian iron ore will come on stream within weeks of the start of shipments to China from Guinea’s Simandou megaproject in early December. Beijing is expected to step up supplies from across Africa, particularly Sierra Leone, Cameroon and the Republic of Congo.
Experts said China’s accelerated drive to develop Africa’s vast iron ore deposits marked a strategic bid to diversify its supply chains and leverage the pricing power of traditional giants such as Australia and Brazil to secure its strategic position in the global commodities market.
For example, the Mbalam-Nabeba project, a transboundary “Simandou-level” deposit, is moving forward after years of delays following the revocation of permits held by Australian firm Sundance Resources. The rights are now managed by the Cameroon Mining Corporation (CMC) and China-backed Sangha Mining Development, with the backing of Bestway Finance, an investment vehicle based in Hong Kong.
The state-owned China Railway Construction Corporation has finished laying rails on the PK330 bridge. Photo: CRCC alt=The state-owned China Railway Construction Corporation has finished laying tracks on the PK330 bridge. Photo: CRCC>
While a dedicated rail corridor is still being developed, the first exports are expected to reach Cameroon’s Kribi port early next year, initially using road transport as an intermediate point.
W. Gyude Moore, a distinguished fellow at the Energy for Growth Hub, said “mines in Guinea and elsewhere in Africa weaken the ability of any supplier bloc to squeeze China on price, terms or geopolitics.”
Moore said Simandou, with its high iron content of 65 percent, allowed China to secure raw material for green steel. However, “African volumes will not be enough to replace either Australia or Brazil; they can only reduce China’s dependence on them a little and give it leverage.”
In Sierra Leone, Leone Rock Metal Group, formerly China’s Kingho Investment Company, transitioned the Tonkolili mine into a new era earlier this year with the completion of major processing infrastructure.
Backed by an investment of US$230 million, the mine’s beneficiation facilities are designed to expand capacity to 12 million tonnes of 66% iron concentrate per year by next year. A US$300 million financing package secured by China Overseas Engineering Group (COVEC) in July will fund the expansion of infrastructure and development facilities at the Tonkolili North field.
Yahia Zoubir, professor of international studies and non-resident senior fellow at the Council on Global Middle East Affairs in Doha, Qatar, said “the heavy dependence on two suppliers – particularly Australia – creates geopolitical and supply chain vulnerabilities”.
By diversifying, “China seeks to rebalance power in the world iron ore market, not replace existing suppliers,” he said, describing it as “geoeconomic risk management – diversifying supply, diluting supplier dominance and incorporating new producers into China-centric value chains.”
He said he expected African projects to eventually supply 10-15 percent of China’s imports, potentially reducing Australia’s share to 50-55 percent. However, “infrastructure constraints and political risks mean African ore will function as a strategic supplement rather than a substitute”, as Australia and Brazil remain more cost-effective.
According to sub-Saharan Africa geoeconomic analyst Aly-Khan Satchu, Africa’s iron ore supply story is a “game changer”, adding that the ore “collapses Australia’s leverage over China and increases Chinese leverage exponentially”.
“China is now a serious insurgent in global commodity markets and is no longer a price taker but a price setter,” Satchu said. “Iron ore is the last penny to drop; precious metals were of course the first.”
Lauren Johnston, a China-Africa specialist and senior researcher at the AustChina Institute, said a decade of trade tensions with Australia had allowed African alternatives to emerge.
“Africa’s iron ore assets both boost China-Africa ties and act as China’s insurance, providing a vital strategic hedge against its heavy reliance on traditional suppliers, particularly Australia,” Johnston said.
She noted that this strategy was supported by the formation in 2022 of the China Mineral Resources Group, which manages the supply of the steel industry. Johnston questioned whether the ore would be exported or reserved for local use, noting that unlike Australia during the iron ore boom with China, Africa’s demand for steel to drive urbanization and industrialization had not yet peaked.
She said Beijing aims to secure supply for its own manufacturing agenda before other investors do.
“China wants to limit supply before other investors can, or may, stockpile ore.”
Ultimately, Zoubir said, “African iron ore will not overturn China’s import structure, but it will significantly increase bargaining power, resilience and strategic autonomy in a market long dominated by a narrow supplier base.”
