Brazilian Vale still holds the position as the undisputed largest iron ore producer of the world. In 2008 Vale controlled 303 Mt of iron ore production. This was the first decline in many years, down from a high of 308 Mt in 2007. The decrease was due to both drastic cuts in production in the last quarter because of the collapse in the North American and European steel markets, which hit Vale harder than its Australian competitors, and to the quick growth in total world production resulting from higher production in Western Australia and South Africa. The frantic expansion rate of the iron ore industry becomes clear when looking back and realising that it was only in 2004 that the then CVRD's production exceeded 200 Mt for the first time. The three largest companies, including Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton in second and third place, with most of their production in Australia, together controlled 33.7 per cent in 2008. The market share of the "Big Three" decreased by more than 1 percentage unit (22 Mt) from 2007. Rio Tinto increased its production by only 8 million tonnes after having cut down in the last quarter and this resulted in a marginal loss of market shares down to 8.7 per cent. BHP Billiton, in third place, did not reduce production but increased its total output by 15 Mt instead and its market share to 7.8 per cent. The "Big Three" have not managed to increase their production quite as fast as total world production and their share has now fallen from a high of 36% to less than 34%, mainly because of a fast expansion by small producers in India and China in 2005-2007 and in late 2008 also because of cuts in production.
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