Iron has been extremely useful to mankind for more than 3000 years, and now accounts for 95% of all metal produced annually. Iron ore is now the world’s second largest commodity market after oil and is essential for developing nations to build infrastructure and to modernize. China’s rapid industrialization in the last decade has caused huge increases in global iron demand. In fact, China is responsible for all the growth in steel consumption since 2000. Because China relies heavily on iron ore imports, this surging demand has placed huge strain on the global iron supply. This has pushed iron exploration into untapped regions and iron price has risen steadily until peaking in 2011. While the price of iron has softened as of recent, the long-term outlook for iron is strong.