Exclusive Global pig iron production in April decreased to 117.3 million tons

The blast furnace method produced 105.1 million tons, and the direct reduction method produced 12.2 million tons

Global pig iron production in April 2025 decreased by 2.9% compared to the previous month to 117.3 million tons. The figure increased by 0.2% compared to the same month in 2024. This is evidenced by the data of the World Steel Association WorldSteel, according to Ukrmetprom.

The company produced 105.1 million tons of pig iron in April, down 0.2% compared to April 2024 and 2.9% compared to March, and 12.2 million tons by direct reduction (+30.2% y/y, +15.1% m/m).

In January-April, pig iron production increased by 0.08% year-on-year – to 463.59 million tons. The company produced 41.02 million tons by direct reduction and 422.57 million tons – by blast furnace.

The largest countries producing pig iron in the period are:

• China – 288.85 million tons (+0.8% y/y);
• India – 50.7 million tons (+7% y/y);
• Russia – 20.09 million tons (+0.1% y/y);
• Japan – 19.56 million tons (-4.2% y/y);
  South Korea – 14.13 million tons (-2.1% y/y).

Ukraine ranks 14th among 40 pig iron producing countries with 2.36 million tons in January-April (+8.1% y/y) and 660.6 thousand tons in April (+10.7% y/y; +17.3% m/m).

As GMK Center reported earlier, in 2024, global pig iron production decreased by 1.3% compared to 2023 to 1.391 billion tons. The company produced 1.265 billion tonnes of pig iron in the year, down 1.6% y/y, and 125.57 million tonnes (+4.5% y/y) using the direct reduction method.

The largest pig iron producing countries in 2024 are China – 851.74 million tons (-2.3% y/y), India – 144.91 million tons (+6.7% y/y), Japan – 61.03 million tons (-3.2% y/y, Russia – 58.99 million tons (-5.4% y/y), South Korea – 44.11 million tons (-2.4% y/y).