From 2022 to 2023, the total cost of iron ore exports flatlined via a 1.7% upturn from $158.7 billion.
The 5 top exporters of iron ore are Australia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa and India. Collectively, those 5 international suppliers generated 85.8% of worldwide exported iron ore sales.
From a continental perspective, Oceania (mostly Australia) sold the greatest amount of exported iron ore amounting to $91.1 billion or 56.4% of the global total. In second place were suppliers in Latin America (21.1%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean trailed by shippers in Asia (7.8%), Africa (5.7%), North America (4.8%), and Europe (4.1%).
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 2601 for iron ores and concentrates including roasted iron pyrites.
Iron Ore Exports by Country
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of iron ore during 2023.
- Australia: US$91 billion (56.4% of total iron ore exports)
- Brazil: $30.6 billion (19%)
- Canada: $6.6 billion (4.1%)
- South Africa: $6.5 billion (4.1%)
- India: $3.6 billion (2.2%)
- Sweden: $3.2 billion (2%)
- mainland China: $2.6 billion (1.6%)
- Ukraine: $1.8 billion (1.1%)
- Peru: $1.68 billion (1%)
- Chile: $1.66 billion (1%)
- Mauritania: $1.33 billion (0.8%)
- Iran: $1.29 billion (0.8%)
- Russia: $1.22 billion (0.8%)
- United States: $1.12 billion (0.7%)
- Malaysia: $1.1 billion (0.7%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 96.9% of global iron ore exports in 2023.
Among the top exporters, the strongest gains from 2022 to 2023 were recorded by suppliers in India (up 129%) and Iran (up 102.5%).
Double-digit decliners in terms of their exports of iron ore were: Ukraine (down -39.4% from 2022), Russia (down -28.8%), mainland China (down -18.4%) and Sweden (down -12.8%).
Countries Generating Biggest Surpluses Trading Iron
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for iron ore during 2023. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. Thus, the statistics below present the surplus between the value of each country’s iron ore exports and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- Australia: US$91 billion (net export surplus up 3.9% since 2022)
- Brazil: $30.5 billion (up 5.8%)
- South Africa: $6.5 billion (down -2.4%)
- Canada: $5.8 billion (down -3.4%)
- Sweden: $3.2 billion (down -13.1%)
- India: $3.1 billion (up 125.6%)
- Ukraine: $1.8 billion (down -39.4%)
- Peru: $1.7 billion (down -3.9%)
- Chile: $1.6 billion (up 1.3%)
- Mauritania: $1.33 billion (down -0.9%)
- Iran: $1.29 billion (up 102.5%)
- Sierra Leone: $885.1 million (up 48.6%)
- Russia: $842.9 million (down -42.1%)
- Kazakhstan: $791.9 million (up 11%)
- Mongolia: $444.5 million (up 13.8%)
World-leading iron exporter Australia generated the highest surplus in the international trade of iron ore. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms the country nicknamed The Land Down Under‘s strong competitive advantage for this specific product category.
Countries Causing Worst Deficits Trading Iron
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for iron ore during 2023. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. Thus, the statistics below present the deficit between the value of each country’s iron ore import purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- mainland China: -US$131.1 billion (net export deficit up 5% since 2022)
- Japan: -$11.6 billion (down -16.1%)
- South Korea: -$8.1 billion (down -9.6%)
- Germany: -$4.2 billion (down -12%)
- Taiwan: -$2.2 billion (down -21.2%)
- Egypt: -$1.6 billion (up 3.9%)
- Indonesia: -$1.3 billion (up 13.5%)
- Vietnam: -$1.2 billion (down -38.2%)
- France: -$1.1 billion (down -32.3%)
- Bahrain: -$921.2 million (down -414%)
- Netherlands: -$905.5 million (down -22.1%)
- Türkiye: -$898.9 million (down -19.5%)
- United Kingdom: -$871.8 million (down -2.2%)
- Belgium: -$837.5 million (down -18.7%)
- Argentina: -$666.5 million (down -8.7%)
The People’s Republic of China incurred the highest deficit in the international trade of iron ore. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights China’s strong competitive disadvantage for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for iron ore-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful demand from the highly industrialized Chinese economy.
Iron Ore Exporting Companies
Below are the world’s largest iron ore conglomerates and major iron ore exporting companies. Show within parenthesis is the country where the company is headquartered.
- Anglo American plc (United Kingdom)
- ArcelorMittal (Luxembourg)
- BHP Billiton (Australia)
- Evraz Group (United Kingdom)
- Fortescue Metals Group (Australia)
- Glencore International (Switzerland)
- Rio Tinto (United Kingdom)
- Severstal (Russia)
- Vale (Brazil)
- Vedanta Resources (United Kingdom)
Searchable List of Iron Ore Exporting Countries in 2023
The 92 countries in the automated database below showcase all iron ore export countries during 2023.
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of any of the columns below. An entry of 0% in the right-most column means no 2022 data was available.
| Rank | Exporter | Iron Ore Exports | 2022-3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Australia | $91,048,780,000 | +3.9% |
| 2. | Brazil | $30,593,439,000 | +5.9% |
| 3. | Canada | $6,630,225,000 | -2% |
| 4. | South Africa | $6,540,064,000 | -2.4% |
| 5. | India | $3,603,685,000 | +129% |
| 6. | Sweden | $3,233,740,000 | -12.8% |
| 7. | mainland China | $2,626,518,000 | -18.4% |
| 8. | Ukraine | $1,766,906,000 | -39.4% |
| 9. | Peru | $1,681,633,000 | -3.9% |
| 10. | Chile | $1,662,400,000 | +0.9% |
| 11. | Mauritania | $1,326,025,000 | -0.9% |
| 12. | Iran | $1,290,912,000 | +102.5% |
| 13. | Russia | $1,218,445,000 | -28.8% |
| 14. | United States | $1,115,444,000 | -2.2% |
| 15. | Malaysia | $1,101,083,000 | -8.7% |
| 16. | Oman | $1,014,344,000 | -53.7% |
| 17. | Sierra Leone | $885,069,000 | +48.6% |
| 18. | Kazakhstan | $791,976,000 | +11% |
| 19. | Bahrain | $473,381,000 | -78% |
| 20. | Mongolia | $444,754,000 | +13.9% |
| 21. | Liberia | $394,692,000 | 0% |
| 22. | Laos | $382,698,000 | +63.8% |
| 23. | Philippines | $360,402,000 | -1.1% |
| 24. | Türkiye | $211,976,000 | -21.3% |
| 25. | Germany | $175,518,000 | -35% |
| 26. | Norway | $142,589,000 | +0.2% |
| 27. | United Arab Emirates | $114,415,000 | +10070% |
| 28. | Venezuela | $92,948,000 | -14.7% |
| 29. | Netherlands | $48,579,000 | +44.4% |
| 30. | Thailand | $48,544,000 | +259.6% |
| 31. | Indonesia | $30,628,000 | -61.2% |
| 32. | Pakistan | $28,286,000 | +16.9% |
| 33. | Belgium | $27,592,000 | -34.6% |
| 34. | Cambodia | $27,232,000 | 0% |
| 35. | South Korea | $26,507,000 | +85.2% |
| 36. | Libya | $24,431,000 | 0% |
| 37. | Mali | $21,824,000 | +89.2% |
| 38. | Saudi Arabia | $14,882,000 | +1287% |
| 39. | Qatar | $13,441,000 | 0% |
| 40. | France | $13,195,000 | +74% |
| 41. | Poland | $13,020,000 | +95.4% |
| 42. | Romania | $11,871,000 | +216.6% |
| 43. | Uzbekistan | $10,331,000 | 0% |
| 44. | Algeria | $9,234,000 | +923300% |
| 45. | Cuba | $8,332,000 | 0% |
| 46. | Trinidad/Tobago | $7,933,000 | 0% |
| 47. | Uganda | $7,454,000 | -73.3% |
| 48. | Bolivia | $7,006,000 | -68.5% |
| 49. | Honduras | $6,660,000 | 0% |
| 50. | Hungary | $5,786,000 | -67.6% |
| 51. | Nigeria | $5,377,000 | +270.3% |
| 52. | Spain | $4,919,000 | -74.4% |
| 53. | Bulgaria | $4,311,000 | -59.6% |
| 54. | Fiji | $2,747,000 | -11.1% |
| 55. | Slovakia | $1,057,000 | -53% |
| 56. | United Kingdom | $903,000 | +16.2% |
| 57. | Mexico | $794,000 | -97.5% |
| 58. | Myanmar | $740,000 | +1005% |
| 59. | Bahamas | $559,000 | 0% |
| 60. | Slovenia | $532,000 | +24.9% |
| 61. | Greece | $330,000 | +32900% |
| 62. | Morocco | $259,000 | +76.2% |
| 63. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $252,000 | -4.2% |
| 64. | Zimbabwe | $232,000 | -88.9% |
| 65. | Italy | $182,000 | +378.9% |
| 66. | Japan | $164,000 | -36.4% |
| 67. | Egypt | $87,000 | 0% |
| 68. | Namibia | $76,000 | -88.3% |
| 69. | Serbia | $53,000 | +2550% |
| 70. | Guyana | $37,000 | 0% |
| 71. | Czech Republic | $37,000 | +428.6% |
| 72. | Guinea | $22,000 | -99.9% |
| 73. | Colombia | $18,000 | 0% |
| 74. | Austria | $14,000 | -94.2% |
| 75. | Georgia | $13,000 | +1200% |
| 76. | Estonia | $11,000 | +10% |
| 77. | Tanzania | $10,000 | 0% |
| 78. | North Macedonia | $8,000 | -57.9% |
| 79. | Switzerland | $8,000 | -27.3% |
| 80. | Marshall Islands | $8,000 | 0% |
| 81. | Albania | $7,000 | 0% |
| 82. | Guatemala | $7,000 | +133.3% |
| 83. | Singapore | $5,000 | 0% |
| 84. | Israel | $4,000 | -20% |
| 85. | Gabon | $3,000 | -66.7% |
| 86. | Montenegro | $3,000 | -97.4% |
| 87. | Mozambique | $2,000 | -99.9% |
| 88. | Eritrea | $2,000 | 0% |
| 89. | Congo | $2,000 | +100% |
| 90. | Cameroon | $2,000 | 0% |
| 91. | Angola | $1,000 | -100% |
| 92. | Senegal | $1,000 | -98.6% |
Enlarging the scope to encompass all iron ore exporters, the fastest growers from 2022 to 2023 were Algeria (up 923,300%), Greece (up 32,900%), United Arab Emirates (up 10,070%), Serbia (up 2,550%), Saudi Arabia (up 1,287%), Georgia (up 1,200%) then Myanmar sometimes called Burma (up 1,005%).
See also Iron Ore Imports by Country, Australia’s Top 10 Exports and Australia’s Top Trading Partners Partners
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on July 17, 2024
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on July 17, 2024
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on July 17, 2024
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on July 17, 2024
Wikipedia, Iron ore mining companies. Accessed on July 17, 2024