China, the world's top iron-ore consumer, brought in more than one-billion tonnes of the steelmaking ingredient in 2019.
The MoU with Dalian Port Co allows Rio Tinto to also use the Chinese port as a transhipment hub, the company said, adding that it could help better serve steel mills in North China.
Many of China's steel producing capacities lie in the northern area, with top producer Hebei province along with Liaoning province together accounting for more than 30% of the national crude steel output.
