Metals trade globe
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Flows on the globe for the selected product, given the layers, by value
Key points
World metals exports in 2024 totaled about $1.06 tn: iron and steel — $461 bn, aluminum — $250 bn, copper — $238 bn, nickel and other non-ferrous metals — $107 bn. The largest exporter of steel and aluminum is China (16% of world volume in each layer). DR Congo and Chile lead in copper (8–9% each), and Indonesia leads in nickel and other non-ferrous metals (10%).
Seaborne metals shipments total about $510 bn a year. The key maritime chokepoint is the Strait of Malacca (~$120 bn across all layers), followed by the Suez Canal (~$94 bn) and Bab-el-Mandeb (~$90 bn). The largest single flow is steel and ferroalloys from Indonesia to China ($16 bn). A significant share of trade goes overland: within Europe and between the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Importance of straits
Click “Close strait” in the list below or select a strait on the globe. The model shows how much trade passes through it and which countries depend on it most: importers are highlighted in red, exporters in orange. The more saturated the color, the larger the share of the country’s trade that passes through the strait.
Straits and canals
Estimated value of seaborne shipments through each strait in the selected layer. The “Close strait” button shows whose trade depends on it.
Click a flow, country, strait or hub on the globe
About the data
Data. Source: BACI (CEPII), a reconciled database of bilateral trade based on UN Comtrade, 2024 (accessed via OEC). Layers: “Iron and steel” — HS chapter 72 (including ferroalloys and semi-finished products); “Copper” — chapter 74 (refined copper, cathodes, rolled products, wire); “Aluminum” — chapter 76; “Nickel and other” — chapters 75 (nickel), 78 (lead), 79 (zinc), 80 (tin) and 81 (other base metals: tungsten, cobalt, titanium, etc.). Ores and concentrates are not included in this globe: they will be part of the minerals globe.
What is shown. The globe shows the 70 largest sea flows, the 40 largest air flows (dashed lines with planes) and the 25 largest overland flows. Strait estimates cover all flows from $60 m for steel and from $15–30 m for the other layers — 92–94% of world trade in each layer.
Mode of transport. Trade between neighboring countries (within Europe and North America, China with its neighbors including Central Asia, within Southeast Asia, etc.) is treated as overland. For other flows, the sea share is taken from Eurostat statistics on EU trade with distant countries for 2024: about 98% of the value of steel, 95% of copper, 89% of aluminum and about 73% of nickel and other non-ferrous metals are carried by sea, the rest by air. Air shipments do not depend on straits.
Routes and importance of straits. A route is the shortest path between the countries’ main ports over the network of sea lanes. A strait’s importance for a country is the share of its shipments through the strait in its total imports or exports of the product group. When a strait is closed, the model looks for a detour and estimates how much longer it is (at an average vessel speed of 14 knots); if there is no detour, the shipment is considered cut off.
Limitations. This is a computational model, not vessel-tracking data. Actual routes depend on shipping lines and transshipment at hubs. Shipments to Switzerland (mainly copper from Zambia) reflect deals by trading houses: physically the metal usually goes straight to consumers, most often in Asia. In the model, copper from Zambia is exported via Dar es Salaam, and copper from DR Congo via Dar es Salaam or Angolan ports, depending on the destination.
WhiteIndex. Metals Trade Globe (October 2026). Data: BACI (CEPII) based on UN Comtrade, 2024; Eurostat.
All sources
BACI (CEPII) based on UN Comtrade, 2024
This text was translated automatically from Russian. Figures, years, names and sources are as in the original.
Exports of steel, copper, aluminum and non-ferrous metals in 2024: sea and air routes, the role of straits in world trade