# Iron ore

The rock behind steel and the largest metal-mining business by tonnage, shipped mainly from Australia and Brazil to China.

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/iron_ore/

Steel & alloying · No. 12

- Not on a critical list
- HHI 2,007 · moderately concentrated
 Steel & alloying · Foundation · Matter

In Australia's Pilbara, Rio Tinto sets off roughly one blast every 30 seconds, about a million a year.

Chart: Illustration: Iron ore

##### Where it comes from

Chart: Map of where it comes from

Iron ore comes mostly from banded iron formations, ancient seabed layers rich in hematite or magnetite. Giant open pits in Australia's Pilbara and Brazil's Carajás dig it out.

##### Three things to know

1. Only fossil fuels and bulk building materials are mined in greater tonnage than iron ore.
2. In the mid-2010s just three firms, Rio Tinto, BHP and Vale, controlled 58.3% of seaborne iron ore.
3. About 98% of US iron ore shipments feed steelmaking, so ore demand rises and falls with steel.

##### The journey

1. 1 **Iron formation**Ancient seabed rock rich in hematite
2. 2 **Open pit**Blasted, crushed and screened
3. 3 **Feed forms**Lump, fines, sinter or pellets
4. 4 **Ironmaking**Blast-furnace pig iron or direct-reduced iron
5. 5 **Steel**Almost all ore ends up as steel
 Covered in [What makes something a commodityCommodities](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/commodities/what-is-a-commodity/)[From ground to marketCommodities](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/commodities/from-ground-to-market/)[Supply, demand and the cost curveCommodities](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/commodities/supply-demand-costs/)[Reserves, stocks and depletionCommodities](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/commodities/reserves-stocks-depletion/)[Prices and cyclesCommodities](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/commodities/prices-and-cycles/)[How commodities tradeCommodities](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/commodities/how-commodities-trade/)and 8 more

##### Go deeper pick a tab to open it in full

## Other sections

- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/iron_ore/overview/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/iron_ore/correlation/index.md)
- [Extraction](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/iron_ore/extraction/index.md)
- [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/iron_ore/production/index.md)
- [Stocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/iron_ore/stocks/index.md)
- [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/iron_ore/cycles/index.md)
- [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/iron_ore/trading/index.md)
- [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/iron_ore/movement/index.md)
- [Criticality](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/iron_ore/criticality/index.md)
- [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/iron_ore/characteristics/index.md)
- [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/iron_ore/emissions/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/iron_ore/links/index.md)