In January this year, world pig iron production amounted to 97.58 million mt, increasing by 1.2 percent compared to December and rising by 5.2 percent compared to the same month of 2016, according to the preliminary data covering 38 countries accounting for approximately 99 percent of total world blast furnace pig iron production, as announced by the World Steel Association (worldsteel).
In January, pig iron output in Asia amounted to 75.18 million mt, up 5.5 percent, with 57.5 million mt produced by China, up 5.6 percent, 6.92 million mt produced by Japan, up 0.4 percent, and 5.56 million mt produced by India, increasing by 14.9 percent - with all comparisons on year-on-year basis. Meanwhile, in the same month, EU countries produced 8.25 million mt of pig iron, up 3.9 percent, while the CIS produced 6.85 million mt, up 5.5 percent, both on year-on-year basis.