Category II · Industrial & base metals
Iron ore.
Foundational steelmaking input. Demand structurally tied to urbanisation in Asia and Africa.
Benchmark
62% Fe CFR China
Unit
US$ / dmt
Current price · 3-mo forward avg
US$ 97 / dmt
Apr — Jul 2026 (forward 3-mo avg)
Foundational steelmaking input. Demand structurally tied to urbanisation in Asia and Africa.
Price · 62% Fe CFR China
2016 — 2035
Solid line: historical annual averages. Dashed line: forward projections (consensus).
Top 5 producing countries
- 01
Australia
35%
Pilbara region; world's largest exporter
- 02
Brazil
17%
Carajás (Vale) — highest grade globally
- 03
China
12%
Domestic, lower-grade; net importer
- 04
India
10%
Odisha / Chhattisgarh; domestic priority
- 05
Russia
3%
KMA basin — Kursk Magnetic Anomaly
Leading companies
- 01
Vale
World's largest iron-ore producer; Carajás S11D
- 02
Rio Tinto
Pilbara operations + Simandou (Guinea) partner
- 03
BHP
Pilbara — Western Australia Iron Ore (WAIO)
- 04
Fortescue Metals Group
Pure-play Australian iron-ore producer
- 05
Anglo American
Kumba Iron Ore (SA) and Minas-Rio (Brazil)
Of note
- §
Simandou (Guinea) — the world's largest untapped high-grade iron-ore deposit — comes online from ~2027, materially shifting supply.
- §
SA Kumba operations are among the highest-grade in seaborne markets (~64% Fe).
- §
Green-steel transition (hydrogen-DRI) favours high-grade ore — a structural advantage for SA, Brazil, Guinea.
Sources
S&P Global Commodity Insights · USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2024. Curated quarterly. Forward projections are consensus indications and are not a guarantee of future prices.