Ukraine’s pig iron exports increased in Q1 2020 amid higher demand from some countries. However, demand from certain countries decreased during the period.
Ukraine exported 655,237mt of pig iron through the first three months of the year, increasing by 4pc compared to the same period in 2019, according to Ukrainian customs. Almost a half of the material (47pc) was shipped to the US, however, exports to the country declined compared to the year prior. The second highest number of exports went to China (30pc), which didn’t import from Ukraine between January and March 2019. At 7pc, Turkey received the third-most Ukrainian exports during the first three months of 2020.
Ukraine exported 147,737mt of pig iron in March 2020.
Pig iron production in Ukraine totaled 5.095mn mt through the first three months of 2020, declining from 5.209mn mt produced between January and March 2019, according to Ukrmetprom.
The country fell from ninth to 10th position among the world’s 40 largest pig iron producers, according to worldsteel. The top-five pig iron producers in the world during Q1 2020 were China (199.737mn mt), India (27.697mn mt), Japan (18.568mn mt), Russia (13.167mn mt), and South Korea (11.267mn mt).