The US Geological Survey (USGS) reported through its Mineral Commodity Summaries Report that the US produced 40.8 million tons of iron ore in 2016, all of it from Minnesota and Michigan, down from 46 million tons in 2015 and 56.1 million tons in 2014.
The decline in global steel demand and prices in 2015 and 2016 spurred a decline in demand for US-produced steel and thus an 11 percent decline in US iron ore production compared to 2015.
The report notes that US iron ore production in 2016 amounted to just 2 percent of all global iron ore production.
Steel production picked up in late 2016 and early 2017, however, and has spurred increased iron ore demand.