Commodity prices · Metals
Iron ore price
Is iron ore expensive by its own standards? The World Bank's monthly price, against the five years before it and every month since January 1960.
Very low 15th percentile of the five years before
Lower than in four months out of five over the past five years.
Monthly average for , the latest month the World Bank has published. Not a live quote.
Data last updated . Checked daily.
Against its own history
A year earlierSeptember 2025
$103.3
US dollars per dry metric ton unit
Five years before60 months
$92.3–152.1
lowest and highest month, September 2021 to August 2026
12-month averageto September 2026
$102.3
+2.6% on the 12 months before
Record monthsince 1960
$214.4
in June 2021; the lowest was $8.8, in January 1968
Iron ore price, monthly average
US dollars per dry metric ton unit, since January 2000. Not adjusted for inflation.
Year by year average, high and low month for the last 15 years
| Year | Average | High | Low |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 101.8 | 108.6 | 96.3 |
| 2025 | 100.2 | 105.1 | 92.3 |
| 2024 | 109.4 | 135.8 | 92.8 |
| 2023 | 120.6 | 137.1 | 105.2 |
| 2022 | 121.3 | 152.1 | 92.6 |
| 2021 | 161.7 | 214.4 | 96.2 |
| 2020 | 108.9 | 155.4 | 84.7 |
| 2019 | 93.9 | 120.2 | 76.2 |
| 2018 | 69.8 | 77.5 | 64.6 |
| 2017 | 71.8 | 89.4 | 57.5 |
| 2016 | 58.4 | 80.0 | 41.9 |
| 2015 | 55.9 | 68.2 | 40.5 |
| 2014 | 97.0 | 128.1 | 68.4 |
| 2013 | 135.4 | 154.6 | 114.8 |
| 2012 | 128.5 | 147.6 | 99.5 |
Related
In our analysis
How this is measured
Prices are the World Bank's monthly averages, in US dollars of the day (not adjusted for inflation), as published in its Commodity Price Data, the “Pink Sheet”. A new month appears early in the month after; it is not a live quote, and September 2026 is the latest month published.
The five-year position ranks the latest month against the 60 months before it: the 90th percentile means it was higher than 90% of them. The record is the highest or lowest month in the World Bank's data, which for this series starts in January 1960. Some series have changed grade, port or source over that time; the World Bank's description below says when, and a record that spans a change compares two different things.
The series, in the World Bank's words: “Iron ore (any origin) fines, spot price, c.f.r. China, 62% Fe beginning December 2008; previously 63.5%”. Sources it lists: Bloomberg Finance L.P.; Thomson Reuters Datastream, World Bank.
No other free source publishes this exact benchmark, so it is not cross-checked.
The World Bank revises recent months when its sources do, and these pages show the figures as currently published, rebuilt daily. Source: World Bank, Commodity Price Data (The Pink Sheet), edition of 2 October 2026. Licence: CC BY 4.0. Every month of every commodity here: commodities.csv.