Global pig iron production fell by 1.8% y/y in 1H2026

China recorded a 2.8% y/y decline in January–June

Global pig iron production in January–June 2026 fell by 1.8% year-on-year – to 689.02 million tonnes. This is according to data from the World Steel Association (WorldSteel), as reported by the State Enterprise Ukrmetallurgprom.

In the first half of the year, 61.82 million tonnes were produced using the direct reduction process, and 627.2 million tonnes using the blast furnace process.

The largest pig iron-producing countries for the period January–June were:

• China — 426.64 million tonnes (-2.8% year-on-year),
• India — 79.35 million tonnes (+4%),
• Japan — 29.16 million tonnes (-0.4%),
• Russia — 28.58 million tonnes (-4.7%)
• South Korea — 21.81 million tonnes (+1.2%).

Ukraine remains in 13th place among the 40 pig iron-producing countries for the January–June period, with 3.66 million tonnes (-0.2% year-on-year).

It should be noted that global steel production in June 2026 rose by 1.7% year-on-year to 155.7 million tonnes. For the first half of the year, the figure fell by 0.7% compared with the same period in 2025, to 931.5 million tonnes.

As reported by GMK Center, in 2025 global pig iron production fell by 1.7% compared with 2024, to 1.368 billion tonnes. 129.2 million tonnes were produced using the direct reduction process during the year, and 1.239 billion tonnes via the blast furnace process. The largest producers of pig iron in 2025 were China – 836.04 million tonnes (-3% y-o-y), India – 154.43 million tonnes (+6.7% y-o-y), and Japan – 58.45 million tonnes (-4.2% y-o-y).