Summary
- The benchmark peaked in 2021. The World Bank's annual average price of iron ore fines delivered CFR China rose from $58.4 per tonne in 2016 to $161.7 in 2021, then fell to $100.2 in 2025.
- China imports on a huge scale: 1.06 to 1.26 billion tonnes a year, reaching 1.26 billion in 2025. Australia and Brazil together supplied about 82% of the 2024 total.
- China's declared price for fines and lump (HS 260111) was between 95% and 101% of the World Bank price in every year from 2017 to 2025.
- Pellets cost more. In 2025 agglomerated ore was declared at $150 per tonne by Japan, $146 by South Korea, $125 by Germany and $150 by the United States, against $98, $100, $97 and $143 for non-agglomerated ore.
- The same origin can carry different prices. In 2025 Brazilian ore was declared at $97 per tonne by China, $112 by Japan and $124 by South Korea, and the customs data does not show why.
Customs data mixes fines, lump and pellets, and many quantities are marked as estimated, so import prices are not directly comparable with a 62% Fe benchmark. The report explains this and the other limits.
What is in the full report
5 pages, as a PDF.
- The World Bank benchmark for 2016 to 2025 with year-on-year changes and a chart
- Fines and lump (HS 260111) import prices for seven importers, and China's price as a share of the benchmark
- Pellet (HS 260112) import prices for seven importers, and import quantities for eight
- China's price by supplier: Australia, Brazil, South Africa, India, Canada, Ukraine, Peru and Chile
- Brazilian ore compared across China, Japan and South Korea
- The data limits and which figures were excluded, and why