<P> The seaborne trade in iron ore, that is, iron ore to be shipped to other countries, was 849m tonnes in 2004 . Australia and Brazil dominate the seaborne trade, with 72% of the market . BHP, Rio and Vale control 66% of this market between them . </P> <P> In Australia iron ore is won from three main sources: pisolite "channel iron deposit" ore derived by mechanical erosion of primary banded - iron formations and accumulated in alluvial channels such as at Pannawonica, Western Australia; and the dominant metasomatically - altered banded iron formation related ores such as at Newman, the Chichester Range, the Hamersley Range and Koolyanobbing, Western Australia . Other types of ore are coming to the fore recently, such as oxidised ferruginous hardcaps, for instance laterite iron ore deposits near Lake Argyle in Western Australia . </P> <P> The total recoverable reserves of iron ore in India are about 9,602 million tonnes of hematite and 3,408 million tonnes of magnetite . Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Odisha, Goa, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu are the principal Indian producers of iron ore . World consumption of iron ore grows 10% per annum on average with the main consumers being China, Japan, Korea, the United States and the European Union . </P> <P> China is currently the largest consumer of iron ore, which translates to be the world's largest steel producing country . It is also the largest importer, buying 52% of the seaborne trade in iron ore in 2004 . China is followed by Japan and Korea, which consume a significant amount of raw iron ore and metallurgical coal . In 2006, China produced 588 million tons of iron ore, with an annual growth of 38% . </P>

What type of iron ore found in india