Pig iron production in Ukraine totaled 1.75mn mt in March 2020, declining from 1.83mn mt during the same month last year, according to preliminary data of Ukrmetprom.
During January and February 2020, pig iron production in Ukraine decreasedon an annual basis by 0.7pc to 3.36mn mt, according to final results. The country raised to the 9th position among largest pig iron producer in the world—according to worldsteel, the world’s top-five pig iron producers through the first two months are the year are China (132.34mn mt), India (18.8mn mt), Japan (12.42mn mt), Russia (8.13mn mt), and South Korea (7.67mn mt).
Ukraine exported 507,500mt of pig iron in through the first two months of the year, according to Ukrainian customs. The main destinations were China (38.52pc), the US (35.11pc), and Turkey (9.49pc).
Demand for pig iron from the CIS remains weak, with China the only buyer. Some negotiations are in progress, although no deals have been reported yet in early April. Bids from China decreased to $305-310/mt cfr after active bookings at $325-330/mt cfr during the second half of March.