World pig iron output rebounds sharply in March

By Carolina Curiel (ScrapMonster Author)

April 25, 2016 04:56:58 AM

BRUSSELS (Scrap Monster): According to latest statistics released by the World Steel Association, the global pig iron increased considerably by 13.6% over the previous month to 99.306 million tons during the month of March this year. The global output of pig iron had totaled 87.427 million tons during the month before this.

The total pig iron production by EU-28 countries during March 2016 was 7.931 Million tonnes (Mt), modestly higher when compared with the February 2016 production of 7.457 Mt. Germany accounted for 2.430 Mt and France’s pig iron output totaled 776,000 mt. Slovakia’s pig iron output rebounded sharply from 267,000 mt in Feb ’16 to 348,000 mt in Mar ’16.

Asian countries accounted for nearly 78% of the global pig iron output during Mar ’16. Among them, China accounted for over 60% of the world blast-furnace iron output during the month. The Chinese output totaled 60.200 mt during the month. The Indian pig iron output ended slightly higher at 5.203 million mt in Mar ‘16 when compared with the output of 4.628 million mt in February this year. The Japanese pig iron output too increased from 6.433 million mt in Feb ‘16 to 6.744 million mt in March this year. Also, South Korean output climbed higher from 3.644 million mt a month before to 3.895 million mt during March ‘16.

The US pig iron output climbed higher marginally to 2.130 million mt. A notable increase in production volume was reported by Brazil during the month. The country’s pig iron production surged higher from 1.914 million mt a month ago to 2.073 million mt during Mar ‘16. The other major pig iron producing nations were Russia (4.580 million mt, up 7.31% month-on-month) and Ukraine (2.100 million mt, up 11.5% month-on-month).