Global pig iron production increased by 5.7% m/m in January

Global pig iron production in January 2024 increased by 5.7% compared to the previous month – to 112.3 million tons. The figure increased by 0.14% compared to January 2023. This was reported by Ukrmetalurgprom with reference to the WorldSteel Association.

Global pig iron production by the blast furnace method amounted to 102.67 million tons for the month, and by the direct reduction method – 9.66 million tons.

The largest pig iron producing countries in January were:

• China – 67.29 million tons (-3.1% y/y);
• Bharat (India) – 12.04 million tons (+7.5% y/y);
• Japan – 5.34 million tons (+0.3% y/y).

In January, Ukraine produced 555 thousand tons of pig iron, down 0.3% month-on-month and 44.5% year-on-year. Thus, the country ranks 16th in the ranking of global pig iron producers.

As GMK Center reported earlier, 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), Bharat (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).

Also, 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), Bharat – 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).