In December last year, world pig iron production amounted to 102.61 million mt, rising by 0.3 percent compared to November and increasing by 5.3 percent compared to 2017, 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).
Meanwhile, in 2018, world pig iron production totaled 1.24 billion mt, up by 2.2 percent compared to 2017.
In December, pig iron output in Asia amounted to 80.99 million mt, up 7.5 percent, with 63.20 million mt produced by China, increasing by 9.4 percent, 6.18 million mt produced by Japan, falling by 6.1 percent, and 6.23 million mt produced by India, increasing by 3.8 percent - with all comparisons on year-on-year basis. Meanwhile, in the same month, EU countries produced 7.62 million mt of pig iron, down four percent year on year, while the CIS produced 6.27 million mt, down 8.2 percent, on year-on-year basis.