Global pig iron production in January amounted to 112.3 million tons

Global pig iron production in January 2025 increased by 0.1% compared to January 2024, from 112.18 million tons to 112.33 million tons. At the same time, the figure decreased by 2.2% compared to the previous month. This is evidenced by the data of the World Steel Association WorldSteel, according to Ukrmetprom.

The blast furnace method produced 102.67 million tons of pig iron in January, which is the same as last year and 2.9% less than in December, and the direct reduction method produced 9.66 million tons (+0% y/y; +6.7% m/m).

The largest pig iron producing countries in January were:

• China – 70.37 million tons (-3.2% y/y);
• India – 12.99 million tons (+5.3% y/y);
• Russia – 5.2 million tons (+4.2% y/y);
• Japan – 5.07 million tons (-5% y/y);
• South Korea – 3.74 million tons (-3.7% y/y).

Ukraine ranks 14th among 40 pig iron producing countries with 0.59 million tons (+7.3 y/y, +5.2% m/m).

As GMK Center reported, in 2024, global pig iron production decreased by 1.3% compared to 2023 – to 1.391 billion tons. The company produced 1.265 billion tonnes of pig iron in the year, down 1.6% y/y, and 125.57 million tonnes (+4.5% y/y) using the direct reduction method.

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