Global pig iron production in 2025 fell to 1.37 billion tons

Global pig iron production in 2025 decreased by 1.7% compared to 2024, to 1.368 billion tons. This is evidenced by data from the World Steel Association (WorldSteel), according to Ukrmetprom.

Direct reduction produced 129.2 million tons during the year, while blast furnaces produced 1.239 billion tons.

In December, pig iron production decreased by 3.9% year-on-year and increased by 0.1% month-on-month – to 107.7 million tons. Blast furnace production amounted to 96.6 million tons (-8.6% y/y; +0.2% m/m), while direct reduction production amounted to 11.2 million tons (+23.5% y/y; -0.9% m/m).

The largest pig iron producing countries in 2025 are:

• China – 836.04 million tons (-3% y/y);
• India – 154.43 million tons (+6.7% y/y);
• Japan – 58.45 million tons (-4.2% y/y);
• Russia – 58.49 million tons (-1.3% y/y);
• South Korea – 43.5 million tons (+0.6% y/y).

Ukraine ranks 13th among 40 pig iron producing countries with 7.88 million tons per year (+11.2% y/y).

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-o-y, while direct reduction production amounted to 125.57 million tons (+4.5% y-o-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).