Since iron ore is almost exclusively used for ironmaking, steel production directly determines iron ore demand. Between 2000 and 2012, global crude steel output increased by 700 million tons, of which China accounted for an increase of 439 million tons. China's economic development not only promoted the rapid development of its own steel industry but also drove the recovery of the global steel industry.

　　In 2012, China's steel industry developed rapidly. Its pig iron and crude steel output reached 658 million tons and 717 million tons respectively, up 1.9% and 3.1% year on year, while the world's figures for these two items grew by 0.8% and 1.2% respectively. Excluding China's data, world pig iron and crude steel output in 2012 fell by 0.5% and 0.4% year on year.

　　From 2001 to 2011, world pig iron output maintained steady growth, with increases of around 6.9% each year from 2001 to 2008. However, output declined in 2009, falling by 2.3%. In 2010, global pig iron output rebounded sharply, with an annual increase of 12.2%, and in 2011 global pig iron output reached 1.1 billion tons. China was the main driving force behind the steady rise in global pig iron output. From 2001 to 2011, China's pig iron output grew at an average annual rate of 15.3%, far higher than the global growth level of 6.5% over the same period.

　　Different growth rates led to significant changes in the share of each country's pig iron output in the global total. China's share jumped from 24.9% in 2001 to 55.6% in 2012, an increase of about 31 percentage points; Japan's share fell from 12.6% in 2001 to 6.9% in 2012, a drop of 5.7 percentage points; the United States' share decreased from 6.8% in 2001 to 2.7% in 2012, a decline of 4.1 percentage points; apart from India, whose share rose slightly, all other countries saw declines to varying degrees.

　　Between 2000 and 2011, global iron ore consumption grew by 97%, with an average annual growth rate of 6.4%, of which China's iron ore consumption increased about 4.8 times, with an average annual growth rate of 17.3%. Between 2000 and 2011, iron ore consumption in the other nine countries grew slowly, and excluding China, the average annual growth rate of iron ore consumption in the rest of the world was 1.2%.

　　The sources of iron ore vary from country to country. Of the iron ore consumed in China in 2012, 37.3% was supplied domestically and 62.7% relied on imports. Of the iron ore China imported that year, 47% came from Australia and 22% from Brazil. Japan relies on imports for more than 99% of its iron ore, of which 61% comes from Australia, 21% from Brazil, 8% from India and 4% from South Africa. South Korea, Germany and Italy also rely on imports for almost 100% of the iron ore they consume, and all four countries mainly obtain iron ore from Brazil and Australia; about 50% of the iron ore consumed in the United States relies on imports, mainly from Australia, Brazil, India, South Africa and Venezuela; Russia, Ukraine, India and Brazil mainly obtain iron ore from domestic sources.