In January this year, world pig iron production amounted to 97.78 million mt, declining by 3.43 percent compared to the same month of 2014 and increasing by two percent compared to December 2014, according to the preliminary data covering 38 countries accounting for approximately 99 percent of total world blast furnace pig iron production, released by the World Steel Association (worldsteel).
In the given month, pig iron output in Asia amounted to 75 million mt, down four percent, with 58 million mt produced by China, decreasing by 5.4 percent, 7 million mt produced by Japan, declining by 2.9 percent , and 4.65 million mt produced by India, increasing slightly by 0.6 percent - with all comparisons on year-on-year basis. Meanwhile, in the same period, EU countries produced 8.28 million mt of pig iron, down 1.2 percent, while the CIS produced 6.5 million mt, down 6.8 percent, both on year-on-year basis.