Evolution of the World Iron Ore Market

This article describes some important developments in iron ore processing such as slurry transportation in pipelines, pelletizing and direct reduction. The competition between scrap and iron ores to feed the growing iron and steel industry worldwide is also described. The evolution of the iron ore industry with the gradual decrease of the local, often captive, mines when large new mines are being developed, especially in Australia and Brazil, to supply an expanding world maritime iron ore market is analyzed, as are the trends towards globalization and the concentration on a few large companies.