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Simandou iron ore: year one in production
Simandou, presented as the largest high-grade iron ore deposit ever brought into production (specialist press, to be corroborated), shipped its first commercial cargo on 11 November 2025. Year one in review.
● Official — MMG N°30Live pricesUpdated 31 Oct 2026
Contents
Numbered sections — jump in or read in order
01 Year one 2025
1.53 Mt
Iron ore produced
MMG — progressive ramp-up
1.06 Mt
Iron ore exported
MMG — first cargoes
650 km
Transguinean railway 100% complete
MMG — Simandou railway
11/11/2025
1st commercial shipment
MMG — loaded at Moribaya port
02 Iron ore 62% price — 3 years of market
Line — monthly iron ore 62% Fe price (USD/tonne, CFR China)
Source: IndexMundi — April 2023 to March 2026
⬇ Download the prices (iron, aluminium, gold) (CSV)
At the current price of around USD 104/t, each million tonnes of Simandou ore is worth ~USD 104m at the mine gate — before transport and royalties. At full capacity, the project targets several tens of millions of tonnes a year.
03 What to remember from 2025
- 11 November 2025: first commercial shipment of Simandou iron ore, 30 years after the first explorations.
- Transguinean railway: 650 km of mining rail, 100% complete, ~20 locomotives received by the TransGuinean Company (CTG).
- Moribaya port: export departure point (WCS and Rio Tinto Simfer).
- 2025 production: 1.53 Mt — a gradual ramp-up, with full capacity spread over several years.
- Local content: WCS organised a first Guinean local-content forum as early as June 2023.
04 Related
Simandou, the full story
Timeline, players (WCS, Rio Tinto Simfer, Baowu, Chinalco) and issues.
SEE SIMANDOU →Prices & markets
Iron ore, aluminium, gold: the prices that value the subsoil.
SEE PRICES →Taxes & royalties
What the mines pay back to the Guinean state.
SEE TAXES →The rail & the port
650 km of Transguinean railway: the corridor carrying Simandou's ore to Moribaya.
SEE THE RAILWAY →