Year | Month | Thermal Coal $/tonne | Iron Ore $/tonne |
2015 | 1 | 61.44 | 68.23 |
2015 | 2 | 69.05 | 62.75 |
2015 | 3 | 64.76 | 58.05 |
2015 | 4 | 56.24 | 52.28 |
2015 | 5 | 61.19 | 60.3 |
2015 | 6 | 58.96 | 62.63 |
2015 | 7 | 59.9 | 52.39 |
2015 | 8 | 59.14 | 56.19 |
2015 | 9 | 57.65 | 56.95 |
2015 | 10 | 54.26 | 53.12 |
2015 | 11 | 52.47 | 46.86 |
2015 | 12 | 52.21 | 40.5 |
2016 | 1 | 49.02 | 41.88 |
2016 | 2 | 50.27 | 46.83 |
2016 | 3 | 52.21 | 56.2 |
2016 | 4 | 50.69 | 60.92 |
2016 | 5 | 51.31 | 55.13 |
2016 | 6 | 52.85 | 51.98 |
2016 | 7 | 61.24 | 57.26 |
2016 | 8 | 67.39 | 60.89 |
2016 | 9 | 72.72 | 57.79 |
2016 | 10 | 94.2 | 59.09 |
2016 | 11 | 103.43 | 73.1 |
2016 | 12 | 88.15 | 80.02 |
2017 | 1 | 83.73 | 80.41 |
2017 | 2 | 79.98 | 89.44 |
2017 | 3 | 80.9 | 87.65 |
2017 | 4 | 83.65 | 70.22 |
2017 | 5 | 74.42 | 62.43 |
2017 | 6 | 81.09 | 57.48 |
2017 | 7 | 87.49 | 67.74 |
2017 | 8 | 98.58 | 76.07 |
2017 | 9 | 97.82 | 71.53 |
2017 | 10 | 97.11 | 61.66 |
2017 | 11 | 96.64 | 64.24 |
2017 | 12 | 100.81 | 72.25 |
2018 | 1 | 106.45 | 76.34 |
2018 | 2 | 105.95 | 77.46 |
2018 | 3 | 96.66 | 70.35 |
2018 | 4 | 93.69 | 65.75 |
2018 | 5 | 105.29 | 66.1 |
2018 | 6 | 114.33 | 65.04 |
2018 | 7 | 119.57 | 64.56 |
2018 | 8 | 117.34 | 67.15 |
2018 | 9 | 114.16 | 68.44 |
2018 | 10 | 108.73 | 73.41 |
2018 | 11 | 100.73 | 73.26 |
2018 | 12 | 101.37 | 69.15 |
2019 | 1 | 98.56 | 76.16 |
2019 | 2 | 95.42 | 88.22 |
2019 | 3 | 93.12 | 86.47 |
2019 | 4 | 86.77 | 93.70 |
2019 | 5 | 82.32 | 100.2 |
2019 | 6 | 72.49 | 108.9 |
2019 | 7 | 72.08 | 120.2 |
2019 | 8 | 65.6 | 93.07 |
2019 | 9 | 66.0 | 93.08 |
2019 | 10 | 68.9 | 88.5 |
2019 | 11 | 67.0 | 85.0 |
2019 | 12 | 66.2 | 92.7 |
2020 | 1 | 69.7 | 95.8 |
2020 | 2 | 67.6 | 87.7 |
2020 | 3 | 66.7 | 89.0 |
2020 | 4 | 58.6 | 84.7 |
2020 | 5 | 52.5 | 93.7 |
2020 | 6 | 52.2 | 103.3 |
2020 | 7 | 51.6 | 108.5 |
2020 | 8 | 50.1 | 121.1 |
2020 | 9 | 54.6 | 123.8 |
2020 | 10 | 58.4 | 119.8 |
2020 | 11 | 64.4 | 124.4 |
2020 | 12 | 83.0 | 155.4 |
2021 | 1 | 86.8 | 169.6 |
2021 | 2 | 86.7 | 163.8 |
2021 | 3 | 94.9 | 168.2 |
2021 | 4 | 92.2 | 179.8 |
2021 | 5 | 107.0 | 207.7 |
2021 | 6 | 130.0 | 214.4 |
2021 | 7 | 152.0 | 214.1 |
2021 | 8 | 169.6 | 162.2 |
2021 | 9 | 185.7 | 124.5 |
2021 | 10 | 224.5 | 122.9 |
2021 | 11 | 157.5 | 96.2 |
2021 | 12 | 169.7 | 117.0 |
2022 | 1 | 197.0 | 132.5 |
2022 | 2 | 219.8 | 142.8 |
2022 | 3 | 314.0 | 152.1 |
2022 | 4 | 310.9 | 151.3 |
2022 | 5 | 371.9 | 131.2 |
2022 | 6 | 374.1 | 130.7 |
2022 | 7 | 402.2 | 108.6 |
2022 | 8 | 407.0 | 108.9 |
2022 | 9 | 430.8 | 99.8 |
2022 | 10 | 389.8 | 92.6 |
2022 | 11 | 342.2 | 93.3 |
2022 | 12 | 379.2 | 111.8 |
2023 | 1 | 318.0 | 122.2 |
2023 | 2 | 207.5 | 127.6 |
2023 | 3 | 187.2 | 128.4 |
2023 | 4 | 194.3 | 117.4 |
2023 | 5 | 160.5 | 105.2 |
2023 | 6 | 139.4 | 113.5 |
2023 | 7 | 140.6 | 114.4 |
2023 | 8 | 152.6 | 110.2 |
Table last updated: 12th September 2023. Next update: ~12th October 2023.
Prices for thermal coal hit an all time high in September 2022, but are now just 35% of that level having declined rapidly in recent months.
Prices for iron ore hit an all-time high in mid-2021, falling back later in the year but rising again during Q1 2022. After gradually falling back later in 2022, early 2023 iron ore prices were once again on a gradual increase with some price moderation evident in Q2 2023. As at mid-2023, iron ore prices seemed more or less stable.
Thermal Coal: Note the definition has changed over time, as follows.
- From January 2015, prices are for fo.b. Newcastle, 6000 kcal/kg.
- For 2002-2014, prices are f.o.b. piers, Newcastle/Port Kembla , 6,300 kcal/kg (11,340 btu/lb).
- In both cases, coal has less than 1% sulfur and ash content below 14%. Data is expressed in US $ per metric tonne.
Iron Ore: price figures are for Chinese imported iron ore fines (62% Fe spot, CFR Tianjin port). The units are $ per metric tonne.