Global pig iron production fell by 2.8% y/y in January–May

Global pig iron production for the period January–May 2026 fell by 2.8% compared with the same period in 2025, to 569.15 million tonnes. This is according to data from the World Steel Association (WorldSteel), as reported by the State Enterprise Ukrmetallurgprom.

Using the direct reduction process, 47.12 million tonnes were produced in the first five months of this year, whilst 522.03 million tonnes were produced via the blast furnace process.

The largest pig iron-producing countries for January–May were:

• China — 354.7 million tonnes (-3.1% y-o-y);
• India — 66.5 million tonnes (+4.4% y-o-y)
• Japan — 24.25 million tonnes (-1% y-o-y);
• Russia — 24 million tonnes (-4.3% y-o-y);
• South Korea — 18.1 million tonnes (+1.5% y-o-y). 

Over the first five months of this year, Ukraine rose from 14th to 13th place among the 40 pig iron-producing countries, with production of 2.99 million tonnes (-0.6% y-o-y).

It should be noted that in 2025, global pig iron production fell by 1.7 per cent compared with 2024, to 1.368 billion tonnes. 129.2 million tonnes were produced using the direct reduction process during the year, and 1.239 billion tonnes via the blast furnace process. The largest producers of pig iron in 2025 were China — 836.04 million tonnes (-3% y-o-y), India — 154.43 million tonnes (+6.7% y-o-y), and Japan — 58.45 million tonnes (-4.2% y-o-y).

As reported by GMK Center, global steel production for the period January–May reached 773.1 million tonnes (-1.5% year-on-year). Over the five-month period, China’s output fell by 3.9% year-on-year to 451.5 million tonnes.