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 |
2023 | 9 | 162.5 | 121.0 |
2023 | 10 | 142.1 | 119.0 |
2023 | 11 | 126.8 | 131.1 |
2023 | 12 | 141.8 | 137.1 |
2024 | 1 | 124.9 | 135.8 |
2024 | 2 | 124.2 | 124.4 |
2024 | 3 | 131.5 | 109.8 |
2024 | 4 | 135.0 | 112.8 |
2024 | 5 | 142.0 | 118.9 |
2024 | 6 | 135.1 | 107.5 |
2024 | 7 | 137.6 | 106.9 |
2024 | 8 | 145.8 | 99.9 |
Table last updated: 12th September 2024. Next update: ~15th October 2024.
Prices for thermal coal hit an all time high in September 2022, but are now around one third of that level having declined rapidly in H1 2023. World iron ore price peaked in mid-2021 and are now less than 50% of their peak level. Click here for further disussion about the current steel price cycle.
Notes and commodity definitionsThermal 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.