Pig iron global production increased by 1.7% y/y in January-November

In January-November 2023, the global production of pig iron increased by 1.7% compared to the same period in 2022 – up to 1.3 billion tons. In November, the global production of pig iron amounted to 110.7 million tons, which is 0.1% more y/y and less by 4.1% m/m. This is reported by Ukrmetalurgprom with reference to WorldSteel Association data.

Global pig iron production by the blast furnace method in January-November 2023 amounted to 1.191 million tons, and by the direct reduction method – 109.42 million tons.

The largest pig iron producing countries in January-November 2023 are:

• China – 810.31 million tons (+1.8% y/y);
• Bharat (India) – 123.2 million tons (+10.8% y/y);
• Japan – 57.97 million tons (-1.9% y/y).

Ukraine in January-November 2023 produced 5.45 million tons of pig iron, which is 11.3% less compared to the same period in 2022. Thus, the country ranks 16th in the ranking of world pig iron producers. In November, 541,000 tons of pig iron were smelted (+5.7% m/m).

In 2022 global production of pig iron decreased by 3% compared to 2021 – to 1.39 billion tons. 1.28 billion tons of pig iron were produced by the blast furnace method, and 110.52 million tons by the direct reduction method.

In the top three producers of pig iron in 2022: China – 863.83 million tons (-0.8% y/y), India – 121.9 million tons (+4.4% y/y) , Japan – 64.1 million tons (-8.8% y/y). In 2022, Ukraine took 15th place in the ranking of world pig iron producers with an indicator of 6.39 million tons (-69.8% y/y).

As GMK Center reported earlier, global steel production in 2022 decreased by 10.8% compared to 2021 – to 140.7 million tons. In the top three there were China – 1.013 billion tons (-2.1% y/y), India – 124, 7 million tons (+5.5% y/y), Japan – 89.2 million t (-7.4% y/y). Ukraine took 25th place with a result of 6.3 million tons (-70.7% y/y).