Global pig iron production fell to 117.3 million tons in August

106.6 million tons were produced using the blast furnace method, and 10.7 million tons using the direct reduction method

Global pig iron production in August 2025 decreased by 0.8% compared to August 2024, to 117.3 million tons. Compared to the previous month, the figure increased by 1.9%. This is evidenced by data from the World Steel Association, according to Ukrmetallurgprom.

In August, 106.6 million tons of pig iron were produced by the blast furnace method, which is 4.2% more than in August 2024 and 0.9% more than in July, and 10.7 million tons by the direct reduction method (+4.7% y/y; +13.5% m/m).

In January-August, pig iron output decreased by 1% compared to the same period last year, to 931.04 million tons. Direct reduction produced 84.44 million tons, and blast furnace production produced 846.6 million tons.

The largest pig iron producing countries for the period are:

• China – 579.07 million tons (-1.1% y/y);
• India – 102.23 million tons (+7.7% y/y);
• Russia – 39.54 million tons (-0.7% y/y);
• Japan – 39.34 million tons (-4% y/y);
• South Korea – 28.88 million tons (-1.5% y/y).

Ukraine ranks 13th among 40 pig iron producing countries – 5.11 million tons in January-August (+7.9% y-o-y) and 747.5 thousand tons in August (-6% y-o-y; +11.9% m-o-m).

As reported by GMK Center, in 2024, global pig iron production decreased by 1.3% compared to 2023 – to 1.391 billion tons. Blast furnace production amounted to 1.265 billion tons of pig iron, down 1.6% y/y, while direct reduction production amounted to 125.57 million tons (+4.5% y/y).

The largest pig iron producing countries in 2024 were 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), and South Korea – 44.11 million tons (-2.4% y/y).