Exclusive Global pig iron production in March amounted to 120.8 million tons

The blast furnace method produced 110.2 million tons, and the direct reduction method produced 10.6 million tons

Global pig iron production in March 2025 increased by 2.4% compared to March 2024 to 120.8 million tons. The figure increased by 6.7% compared to the previous month. This is evidenced by the data of the World Steel Association WorldSteel, according to Ukrmetprom.

The company produced 110.2 million tons of pig iron in March, up 1.5% compared to February 2024 and 5.4% compared to January, and 10.6 million tons by direct reduction (+8.9% y/y, +22.6% m/m).

In January-March, pig iron production increased by 0.04% year-on-year – to 346.34 million tons. Direct reduction method produced 28.85 million tons, and blast furnace method – 317.49 million tons.

The largest countries producing pig iron in the period are:

China – 216.28 million tons (+0.8% y/y);
India – 38.03 million tons (+6.2% y/y);
Russia – 15.16 million tons (+0.1% y/y);
Japan – 14.82 million tons (-3.7% y/y);
South Korea – 10.68 million tons (-2.8% y/y).

Ukraine ranks 14th among 40 pig iron producing countries with 1.7 million tons in January-March (+7.2% y/y) and 563.2 thousand tons in March (+4.6% y/y; +3.5% 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).