Global pig iron production fell by 2% y/y in Q1

Global pig iron production for the January–March 2026 period fell by 2% compared to the same period in 2025, to 340.04 million tons. This is according to data from the World Steel Association (WorldSteel), as reported by the Ukrmetallurgprom State Enterprise.

Using the direct reduction method, 24.41 million tons were produced over the three months, while 311.63 million tons were produced via the blast furnace method.

In March, total production fell by 3.3% compared to March 2025, but rose by 4.8% from the previous month to 117.3 million tons. 108 million tons were smelted using the blast furnace method (-2% y/y; +4.7% m/m), and 5.3 million tons using the direct reduction method (-49.7% y/y; -39.9% m/m).

The largest pig iron-producing countries based on January-March results are:

• China – 210.98 million tons (-2.9% y/y);
• India – 40.55 million tons (+6.2% y/y);
• Japan – 14.41 million tons (-2.5% y/y);
• Russia – 14.41 million tons (-4.5% y/y);
• South Korea – 11.09 million tons (+1.2% y/y).

Ukraine ranks 13th among 40 countries producing pig iron – 1.8 million tons (+5.8% y/y).

As reported by GMK Center, global pig iron production in 2025 fell by 1.7% compared to 2024, to 1.368 billion tons. Direct reduction accounted for 129.2 million tons of production for the year, while blast furnace production totaled 1.239 billion tons. The largest pig iron-producing countries in 2025 were China – 836.04 million tons (-3% year-on-year), India – 154.43 million tons (+6.7% year-on-year), and Japan – 58.45 million tons (-4.2% year-on-year).