Accordingly, the world’s largest companies involved in iron ore mining are from these two countries. Vale S.A. from Brazil produced 302 million metric tons in 2019. Anglo-Australian mining companies BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto complete the world’s top three iron ore producers.

While Australia and Brazil are the top exporters of iron ore, China is by far the largest iron importer. As is the case for many other commodities as well, Chinese demand significantly defines the global iron ore market. Nearly two-thirds of global iron ore exports go to China – over one billion metric tons. In comparison to that, the United States consumed only about 41 million metric tons of iron ore in 2019, while total U.S. iron ore shipments stood at about 50 million metric tons.

Prices of iron ore showed an average increase over the last 13 years, before decreasing considerably in 2015. The price of iron ore reached a record high during this decade in 2011, when the average price was 168 U.S. dollars. In 2019, the iron ore price was about 94 U.S. dollars per dry metric ton unit. As of July 2020, the monthly iron ore price sat at about 109 U.S. dollars per dry metric ton.

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