Iron ore is the most important raw material for steel production. Its resources are found mainly in Australia, Brazil, China, India, Russia and the United States. Australia, China, Brazil and India alone, account for around 80 percent of the world total output.
铁矿石是钢铁生产最重要的原材料。铁矿主要分布在澳大利亚、巴西、中国、印度、俄罗斯和美国。澳大利亚、中国、巴西和印度的产量约占世界总产量的80%。

According to statistics from the Metallurgical Mines'Association of China, global iron ore consumption in 2001 was over 1 billion tons. In 2010, it nearly doubled to more than 1.8 billion tons.

据中国冶金矿山企业协会统计，全球铁矿石消费在2001年超过了10亿吨。在2010年,它几乎翻了一番，超过18亿吨。

China contributed to 90 percent of the increase. The country has become the world's largest iron ore consumer, and the world's second-largest producer. But China's iron ore resources are scattered, of low grade and with a high cost of extraction. It relies highly on imports from other countries.

全球铁矿石消费增量中,90%来自中国。中国已成为世界上最大的铁矿石消费国和第二大生产国。但是我国的铁矿石资源分散、品位低、开采成本高，中国的铁矿石仍然高度依赖进口。

Last year, it reported 440 million tonnes in output, 740 million tonnes in imports and 1.05 billion tonnes in consumption. Most of the imports are from Brazil's Vale, Australia's Rio Tinto, BHP and FMG.

据报道，我国去年生产铁矿石4.4亿吨，进口7.4亿吨，消费10.5亿吨。中国进口的铁矿石大部分来自巴西的淡水河谷，澳大利亚力拓、必和必拓与FMG。