15 Largest Iron Ore Producing Countries in the World

Iron ore is the most important material in the iron and steel industries, something the 15 largest iron ore producing countries in the world are well aware of. Like I said, iron ore is the basic material on which the global iron and steel industries, worth hundreds of billions of dollars, are based on. While many other materials have various uses, iron ore is more or less used in the production of steel in its entirety, or at least 98% of iron ore is used for this purpose.

Steel is perhaps the most important material we have and is present in almost every application around our lives, from construction and cars to even washing machines. You can learn more about the importance and uses of steel in the 15 largest steel producing countries in the world. If you compare the two articles, you will notice a lot of countries in common in the two lists, because of the intricate linkage between iron ores and steel production.

So what exactly is an iron ore? Iron ores are rock or minerals in which iron is present, which can then be extracted. The ores generally contain a large concentration of iron oxides, which can even be found in several colors. The process goes something like this; iron ore is extracted from rocks, and is used to make pig iron (more information on which is available at 15 largest pig iron producing countries in the world), which in turn serves as the raw material for the production of steel.

Some companies have a significant interest in the iron ore industry, with the biggest companies with the largest market share in the iron ore industry including Cleveland-Cliffs Inc (NYSE:CLF), United States Steel Corporation (NYSE:X) and ArcelorMittal SA.

For determining our rankings, we have selected the 15 top countries which produce iron ore and ranked them according to their production in both 2018 and 2019 from Mineral Commodities Survey 2020. The truth is, there is very little change in the production of iron ore when comparing 2018 to 2019. So without further ado, let’s take a look at the countries largely responsible for the global production of iron ore, starting with number 15.

15. Chile

Production of iron ore in 2018 (in thousand metric tons): 14,000

Production of iron ore in 2019 (in thousand metric tons): 14,000

14. Peru

Production of iron ore in 2018 (in thousand metric tons): 14,200

Production of iron ore in 2019 (in thousand metric tons): 15,000

13. Mexico

Production of iron ore in 2018 (in thousand metric tons): 22,300

Production of iron ore in 2019 (in thousand metric tons): 23,000

12. Sweden

Production of iron ore in 2018 (in thousand metric tons): 35,800

Production of iron ore in 2019 (in thousand metric tons): 37,000

11. Iran

Production of iron ore in 2018 (in thousand metric tons): 36,400

Production of iron ore in 2019 (in thousand metric tons): 38,000

10. Kazakhstan

Production of iron ore in 2018 (in thousand metric tons): 41,900

Production of iron ore in 2019 (in thousand metric tons): 43,000

9. United States of America

Production of iron ore in 2018 (in thousand metric tons): 49,500

Production of iron ore in 2019 (in thousand metric tons): 48,000

8. Canada

Production of iron ore in 2018 (in thousand metric tons): 52,400

Production of iron ore in 2019 (in thousand metric tons): 54,000

7. Ukraine

Production of iron ore in 2018 (in thousand metric tons): 60,300

Production of iron ore in 2019 (in thousand metric tons): 62,000

6. South Africa

Production of iron ore in 2018 (in thousand metric tons): 74,300

Production of iron ore in 2019 (in thousand metric tons): 77,000

5. Russia

Production of iron ore in 2018 (in thousand metric tons): 96,100

Production of iron ore in 2019 (in thousand metric tons): 99,000

4. India

Production of iron ore in 2018 (in thousand metric tons): 205,000

Production of iron ore in 2019 (in thousand metric tons): 210,000

3. China

Production of iron ore in 2018 (in thousand metric tons): 335,000

Production of iron ore in 2019 (in thousand metric tons): 350,000

2. Brazil

Production of iron ore in 2018 (in thousand metric tons): 460,000

Production of iron ore in 2019 (in thousand metric tons): 480,000

1. Australia

Production of iron ore in 2018 (in thousand metric tons): 900,000

Production of iron ore in 2019 (in thousand metric tons): 930,000

Topping the list of the largest iron ore producing countries in the world is Australia, which has more production than the next two countries on this list! This should come as no surprise, considering that Australia’s iron ore reserves far surpass any other country, and are in fact over one third of the global identified reserves of iron ore.