Year over year, the value of iron ore imports accelerated by 9.2% from 2019 to 2020.
The biggest 3 importers of iron ore are China, Japan and South Korea amounting to 85.9% of worldwide purchases for that commodity in 2020.
From a continental perspective, Asian countries consumed the highest dollar worth of iron ore imported from foreign markets with purchases costing $143.7 billion or 91.1% of the worldwide total. In second place were importers in Europe at 6.9%.
Tinier percentages were attributed to buyers in North America (0.8%), Africa (0.7%), Latin America (0.4%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, and Oceania (0.04%) led by Australia.
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 2601 for iron ores and concentrates including roasted iron pyrites.
Iron Ore Imports by Country
Top 15
Below are the 15 countries that imported the highest dollar value worth of iron ore during 2020.
- China: US$118.9 billion (75.4% of imported iron ore)
- Japan: $9.6 billion (6.1%)
- South Korea: $6.9 billion (4.4%)
- Germany: $3.7 billion (2.3%)
- Taiwan: $2.2 billion (1.4%)
- France: $1.2 billion (0.7%)
- Malaysia: $1.2 billion (0.7%)
- Turkey: $1.1 billion (0.7%)
- Vietnam: $962.8 million (0.6%)
- Netherlands: $840.9 million (0.5%)
- Egypt: $733.9 million (0.5%)
- United Kingdom: $721.4 million (0.5%)
- Bahrain: $683.7 million (0.4%)
- Indonesia: $681.9 million (0.4%)
- United States: $675.7 million (0.4%)
Among the above countries, the growth markets for iron ore from 2019 to 2020 were Indonesia (up 58.4%), China (up 19.1%) and Netherlands (up 10.9%).
Those countries that posted declines in their imported iron ore purchases were led by: Bahrain (down -32.3%), France (down -22.4%), United States (down -19.8%) and Egypt (down -16.9%).
The listed 15 countries purchased 95.1% of all iron ore imported in 2020.
China
Iron Ore Imports into China
Below are the top 15 suppliers from which China imported the highest dollar value worth of iron ore during 2020. Within parenthesis is the percentage change in value for each supplying country.
- Australia: US$70.8 billion (up 16.1% from 2019)
- Brazil: $25.7 billion (up 16.4%)
- South Africa: $4.9 billion (up 13.8%)
- India: $4 billion (up 80.6%)
- Ukraine: $3 billion (up 91.4%)
- Canada: $2 billion (up 64.1%)
- Chile: $1.5 billion (up 113.2%)
- Peru: $1.5 billion (up 4.5%)
- Russia: $1.4 billion (up 66.3%)
- Mauritania: $857.7 million (up 48.8%)
- Sweden: $582.8 million (up 366.6%)
- Kazakhstan: $549.7 million (up 56.2%)
- Mongolia: $449.7 million (up 5.7%)
- Malaysia: $285.2 million (up 27.9%)
- Iran: $270.8 million (down -78.6%)
The listed 15 countries shipped 99.1% of iron ore imported by China in 2020.
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing suppliers of iron ore to China from 2019 to 2020 were: Sweden (up 366.6%), Chile (up 113.2%), Ukraine (up 91.4%) and India (up 80.6%).
The lone country that experienced a decline in the value of its iron ore supplied to Chinese importers was Iran via a -78.6%) drop.
Overall, the value of China’s imported iron ore rose by an average 19.1% from all supplying countries since 2019 when iron ore purchased cost $99.8 billion.
Japan
Iron Ore Imports into Japan
Below are the top 15 suppliers from which Japan imported the highest dollar value worth of iron ore during 2020. Within parenthesis is the percentage change in value for each supplying country.
- Australia: US$5 billion (down -10.5% from 2019)
- Brazil: $2.9 billion (down -6%)
- Canada: $689.9 million (down -18.8%)
- South Africa: $345.6 million (up 0.9%)
- India: $195.8 million (up 5.4%)
- United States: $169.5 million (down -26.2%)
- Peru: $67.1 million (up 20.6%)
- Russia: $66.8 million (up 342%)
- Mauritania: $66.2 million (down -41.3%)
- China: $57.6 million (down -64.5%)
- Ukraine: $47 million (down -78.5%)
- Chile: $36.5 million (up 130.1%)
- New Zealand: $4.7 million (down -2.2%)
- Uruguay: $16,000 (no 2019 data)
- Sweden: $15,000 (down -99.9%)
The listed 15 countries shipped 99.9999377% of iron ore imported by Japan in 2020.
Among the above countries, the only growing suppliers of iron ore to Japan from 2019 to 2020 were: Russia (up 342%), Chile (up 130.1%), Peru (up 20.6%) and India (up 5.4%).
Countries that experienced declines in the value of their iron ore supplied to Japanese importers included: Sweden (down -99.9%), Ukraine (down -78.5%), China (down -64.5%) and Mauritania (down -41.3%).
Overall, the value of Japan’s imported iron ore fell by an average -11.4% from all supplying countries since 2019 when iron ore purchased cost $10.9 billion.
South Korea
Iron Ore Imports into South Korea
Below are the top suppliers from which South Korea imported the highest dollar value worth of iron ore during 2020. Within parenthesis is the percentage change in value for each supplying country.
- Australia: US$5 billion (up 5.9% from 2019)
- Brazil: $965.8 million (down -8.9%)
- South Africa: $521.2 million (down -12.5%)
- Canada: $347.6 million (up 2.8%)
- India: $59.3 million (down -56%)
- China: $27.2 million (up 170.2%)
- Chile: $21.3 million (no 2019 data)
- Ukraine: $10.8 million (down -89.6%)
- Netherlands: $32,000 (down -15.8%)
- Sweden: $8,000 (up 100%)
- Uruguay: $3,000 (no 2019 data)
- Mexico: $2,000 (no 2019 data)
- Germany: $1,000 (no 2019 data)
The listed countries shipped 100% of iron ore imported by South Korea in 2020.
Among the above countries, growing suppliers of iron ore to South Korea from 2019 to 2020 were: China (up 170.2%), Sweden (up 100%), Australia (up 5.9%) and Canada (up 2.8%).
Overall, the value of South Korea’s imported iron ore slipped by an average -0.3% from all supplying countries since 2019 when iron ore purchased cost $6.949 billion.
Germany
Iron Ore Imports into Germany
Below are the top 15 suppliers from which Germany imported the highest dollar value worth of iron ore during 2020. Within parenthesis is the percentage change in value for each supplying country.
- Canada: US$1.1 billion (up 17% from 2019)
- Brazil: $839 million (down -39.5%)
- South Africa: $591.6 million (down -6.1%)
- Sweden: $443.3 million (down -3.8%)
- Russia: $328.9 million (up 49.3%)
- Mauritania: $134.1 million (up 55.2%)
- Ukraine: $126.2 million (down -16.3%)
- Liberia: $81.5 million (up 50.7%)
- Australia: $7.3 million (down -88.9%)
- Norway: $4.6 million (down -0.4%)
- United States: $3.9 million (up 385.1%)
- Mexico: $3.8 million (down -24.3%)
- Italy: $2.5 million (no 2019 data)
- Turkey: $1.9 million (up 25.5%)
- Finland: $1.8 million (down -18.6%)
The listed 15 countries shipped 99.96% of iron ore imported by Germany in 2020.
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing suppliers of iron ore to Germany from 2019 to 2020 were: United States (up 385.1%), Mauritania (up 55.2%), Liberia (up 50.7%) and Russia (up 49.3%).
Countries that experienced declines in the value of their iron ore supplied to German importers included: Australia (down -88.9%), Brazil (down -39.5%), Mexico (down -24.3%) and Finland (down -18.6%).
Overall, the value of Germany’s imported iron ore declined by an average -9.1% from all supplying countries since 2019 when iron ore purchased cost $4 billion.
Searchable List of Iron Ore Importing Countries in 2020
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of any of the columns below. An entry of 0% in the right-most column means no 2019 data was available.
| Rank | Importer | Iron Ore Imports (US$) | 2019-20 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | China | $118,944,291,000 | +19.1% |
| 2. | Japan | $9,623,534,000 | -11.4% |
| 3. | South Korea | $6,931,101,000 | -0.3% |
| 4. | Germany | $3,658,017,000 | -9.1% |
| 5. | Taiwan | $2,173,527,000 | -3.8% |
| 6. | France | $1,170,842,000 | -22.4% |
| 7. | Malaysia | $1,164,091,000 | -10.4% |
| 8. | Turkey | $1,051,081,000 | -4.6% |
| 9. | Vietnam | $962,837,000 | -9.8% |
| 10. | Netherlands | $840,949,000 | +10.9% |
| 11. | Egypt | $733,890,000 | -16.9% |
| 12. | United Kingdom | $721,356,000 | -4.8% |
| 13. | Bahrain | $683,650,000 | -32.3% |
| 14. | Indonesia | $681,927,000 | +58.4% |
| 15. | United States | $675,660,000 | -19.8% |
| 16. | Oman | $655,710,000 | -35.7% |
| 17. | Russia | $649,196,000 | -1.6% |
| 18. | Belgium | $608,999,000 | -13.2% |
| 19. | Canada | $592,063,000 | -23.3% |
| 20. | Italy | $575,484,000 | -14.3% |
| 21. | Czech Republic | $569,991,000 | -7.1% |
| 22. | Poland | $505,418,000 | -11.2% |
| 23. | Philippines | $452,668,000 | +4.7% |
| 24. | Slovakia | $408,527,000 | -19.9% |
| 25. | Spain | $381,216,000 | -33.1% |
| 26. | Algeria | $354,048,000 | +42% |
| 27. | Argentina | $339,266,000 | -19.3% |
| 28. | Finland | $314,723,000 | -8.5% |
| 29. | Romania | $241,523,000 | -20.2% |
| 30. | United Arab Emirates | $201,448,000 | -74.5% |
| 31. | Trinidad/Tobago | $175,927,000 | -50.1% |
| 32. | Serbia | $154,029,000 | -53.2% |
| 33. | Hungary | $128,375,000 | -30.6% |
| 34. | India | $109,526,000 | -42.2% |
| 35. | Australia | $65,766,000 | +4% |
| 36. | Qatar | $60,546,000 | -90.2% |
| 37. | Libya | $28,111,000 | -86.2% |
| 38. | Brazil | $19,194,000 | -48.4% |
| 39. | Chile | $17,034,000 | -37.9% |
| 40. | Bahamas | $16,910,000 | 0% |
| 41. | Mozambique | $10,693,000 | -13.9% |
| 42. | Norway | $6,668,000 | +15.9% |
| 43. | Sweden | $5,508,000 | -57.7% |
| 44. | Bangladesh | $3,411,000 | +8,220% |
| 45. | Mexico | $2,249,000 | -87.3% |
| 46. | Belarus | $2,150,000 | -54.9% |
| 47. | Iceland | $2,048,000 | +39.1% |
| 48. | Kyrgyzstan | $1,715,000 | +21.5% |
| 49. | Nepal | $1,712,000 | -60.8% |
| 50. | Switzerland | $1,518,000 | +16.7% |
| 51. | Iraq | $1,452,000 | +13.7% |
| 52. | Portugal | $1,129,000 | +180.1% |
| 53. | Armenia | $1,127,000 | +4% |
| 54. | Denmark | $1,032,000 | -63.7% |
| 55. | Ireland | $978,000 | +13.5% |
| 56. | Tajikistan | $964,000 | +58.3% |
| 57. | Paraguay | $950,000 | +869.4% |
| 58. | Namibia | $918,000 | +11,375% |
| 59. | Congo | $832,000 | +9,144% |
| 60. | Jordan | $376,000 | -59.6% |
| 61. | Bulgaria | $370,000 | -11.7% |
| 62. | Saudi Arabia | $297,000 | -98.9% |
| 63. | Moldova | $275,000 | +20.6% |
| 64. | Botswana | $209,000 | -21.4% |
| 65. | Thailand | $200,000 | -20.3% |
| 66. | Georgia | $192,000 | -74.2% |
| 67. | Estonia | $109,000 | +25.3% |
| 68. | Iran | $109,000 | -26.4% |
| 69. | Lithuania | $108,000 | -67.1% |
| 70. | Croatia | $106,000 | +35.9% |
| 71. | North Macedonia | $100,000 | +9.9% |
| 72. | Ecuador | $92,000 | 0% |
| 73. | Slovenia | $92,000 | +55.9% |
| 74. | New Zealand | $79,000 | -28.8% |
| 75. | Ukraine | $75,000 | -94.7% |
| 76. | Uzbekistan | $62,000 | -61.7% |
| 77. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $62,000 | -99.3% |
| 78. | Greece | $58,000 | +31.8% |
| 79. | Kazakhstan | $50,000 | +22% |
| 80. | Peru | $34,000 | +17.2% |
| 81. | Tunisia | $33,000 | -92.3% |
| 82. | Saint Lucia | $31,000 | 0% |
| 83. | South Africa | $26,000 | -100% |
| 84. | Cyprus | $23,000 | -64.1% |
| 85. | El Salvador | $22,000 | +4.8% |
| 86. | Turkmenistan | $22,000 | -40.5% |
| 87. | New Caledonia | $20,000 | +233.3% |
| 88. | Kuwait | $17,000 | -57.5% |
| 89. | Israel | $12,000 | -25% |
| 90. | Morocco | $11,000 | -15.4% |
| 91. | Pakistan | $10,000 | -75.6% |
| 92. | Micronesia | $9,000 | 0% |
| 93. | Singapore | $9,000 | -92.7% |
| 94. | Zambia | $9,000 | 0% |
| 95. | Latvia | $8,000 | 0% |
| 96. | Colombia | $8,000 | -20% |
| 97. | Cambodia | $6,000 | -77.8% |
| 98. | Jamaica | $6,000 | 0% |
| 99. | Mongolia | $6,000 | -93.8% |
| 100. | Democr. Rep. Congo | $4,000 | +300% |
| 101. | Hong Kong | $4,000 | -90.9% |
| 102. | Luxembourg | $3,000 | -57.1% |
| 103. | Kenya | $2,000 | 0% |
| 104. | Laos | $2,000 | -98.5% |
| 105. | Guatemala | $1,000 | -96.9% |
| 106. | Myanmar | $1,000 | -98.5% |
| 107. | Albania | $1,000 | -94.1% |
| 108. | Mali | $1,000 | -66.7% |
See also Iron Ore Exports by Country and China’s Top Trading Partners
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Imports – Commodities. Accessed on June 5, 2021
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on June 5, 2021
