Minerals trade globe
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Flows on the globe for the selected product, given the layers, by value
Key points
World exports of mineral raw materials in 2024 totaled about $422 bn: iron ore — $160 bn, copper ores and concentrates — $106 bn, other ores — $92 bn, non-metallic minerals (salt, sulfur, cement, gypsum, etc.) — $64 bn. The market is highly concentrated: Australia supplies 55% of world iron ore exports and Brazil 20%; Chile (29%) and Peru (19%) lead in copper concentrate. China is the main buyer in all layers: 71% of iron ore imports and 62% of copper concentrate imports.
Seaborne shipments total about $334 bn a year. Most ore bypasses the key straits: the largest flow, iron ore from Australia to China ($73 bn), does not pass through any of them. The main maritime chokepoint for raw materials is the Cape of Good Hope (~$45 bn): Brazilian iron ore and Guinean bauxite bound for China pass through it. About $28 bn passes through the Strait of Malacca.
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 ore” — HS heading 2601 (ores and concentrates, including pellets); “Copper ore” — 2603 (ores and concentrates); “Other ores” — the rest of chapter 26: bauxite, nickel, manganese, zinc, chromium and lead ores, precious metal ores, slag, etc.; “Non-metallic minerals” — chapter 25: salt, sulfur, cement, gypsum, lime, kaolin, graphite, magnesite, etc. Processed metals are shown in the metals trade 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 $40 m for iron ore, from $20 m for copper ore and from $15 m for the other layers — 86–99% of world trade in each layer. When a strait is closed, country lists include countries with trade in the layer of at least 0.1% of the world total (and at least $50 m).
Mode of transport. Trade between neighboring countries (within Europe and North America, China with its neighbors including Central Asia and Mongolia, 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: iron and copper ore and non-metallic minerals are carried almost entirely by sea (99–100%), other ores 87% (precious metal ores often travel 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. Routes run between the countries’ main ports, not between specific ore terminals: for example, exports from Australia are modeled via Perth and from Guinea via West African ports. Actual bulk carrier routes depend on vessel size and freight.
WhiteIndex. Minerals 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 ores and non-metallic minerals in 2024: sea routes and the role of straits in world trade