Global pig iron production fell by 5% y/y in March

Global pig iron production in March 2024 fell by 5% compared to the same month in 2023 – to 118.27 million tons. The figure increased by 2.5% compared to February. This is reported by Ukrmetalurgprom with reference to the data of the WorldSteel Association.

Global pig iron production by the blast furnace method for the month amounted to 108.56 million tons (+1.8% m/m; -2.8% y/y), and by the direct reduction method – 9.71 million tons (+11.4% m/m; +16.7% y/y).

In January-March 2024, global pig iron production decreased by 0.8% compared to the same period in 2023 to 345.95 million tons. In particular, 317.86 million tons of pig iron were produced by the blast furnace method, and 28.09 million tons by the direct reduction method.

The largest pig iron producing countries in January-March were:

• China – 213.39 million tons (-2.9% y/y);
• India – 35.73 million tons (+8.1% y/y);
• Japan – 15.39 million tons (-1.8% y/y);
• Russian Federation – 15.24 million tons (-0.3% y/y);
• South Korea – 10.99 million tons (+0.9% y/y).

Ukraine produced 538 thousand tons of pig iron in March, up 8.6% month-on-month and 15.7% y/y. For 3 months, the figure amounted to 1.59 million tons (+32.1% y/y). Thus, the country ranks 15th in the ranking of global pig iron producers, ahead of France by 17 thousand tons.

As a reminder, in 2023, global pig iron production increased by 1.1% compared to 2022 to 1.41 billion tons. In 2023, 1.29 million tons were produced by the blast furnace method, and 120.15 million tons by the direct reduction method.

The top three countries for pig iron production in 2022: China – 871.01 million tons (+0.7% y/y), India – 135.07 million tons (+10.6% y/y), Japan – 63.04 million tons (-1.7% y/y). In 2023, Ukraine ranked 16th in the global pig iron production ranking with 6 million tons (-6.1% y/y).

As GMK Center reported earlier, global steel production in 2023 decreased by 0.1% compared to 2022 to 1.85 billion tons. The top three producing countries are: China – 1.019 billion tons (+0% y/y), India – 140.2 million tons (+11.8% y/y), Japan – 87 million tons (-2.5% y/y). Ukraine ranked 24th with 6.2 million tons (-0.6% y/y).