In the month, global steelmakers produced 112.3 million tons of pig iron
Global pig iron production in January 2024 increased by 5.7% from the previous month – to 112.3 million tonnes. The number increased by 0.14% compared to January 2023. This was reported by Ukrmetalurgprom with reference to the WorldSteel Association.
Global pig iron production using the blast furnace method was 102.67 million tons in the month, and using the direct reduction method – 9.66 million tons.
The largest pig iron producing countries in January were:
- China – 67.29 million tons (-3.1% per year);
- Bharat (India) – 12.04 million tons (+7.5% per year);
- Japan – 5.34 million tons (+0.3% per year).
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 occupies 16th place in the ranking of global pig iron producers.
As previously reported, 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 using the blast furnace method and 120.15 million tons – using the direct reduction method.
The top three countries in pig iron production in 2022: China – 871.01 million tons (+0.7% per year), Bharat (India) – 135.07 million tons (+10.6% per year ), Japan – 63.04 million tons (-1.7% per year). In 2023, Ukraine ranked 16th in the global ranking of pig iron production, with 6 million tons (-6.1% per year).
Furthermore, global steel production in 2023 decreased by 0.1% compared to 2022 – to 1.85 billion tonnes. The three main producing countries are: China – 1.019 billion tons (+0% per year), Bharat – 140.2 million tons (+11.8% per year), Japan – 87 million tons (-2.5 % per year). Ukraine ranked 24th with 6.2 million tons (-0.6% per year).
