According to the World Steel Association (worldsteel), Ukraine dropped in the first quarter of 2020 from ninth to tenth position among 40 countries that produce pig iron, reducing its production by 2.2% compared to the same period last year to 5.095 million tons.
At the same time, according to the results of January-March, Ukraine rose to the eleventh position among 62 steel-producing countries, having smelted 5.32 million tons of the alloy, or 96.6% relative to the first quarter of 2019
In total, in the first three months of 2020, 443 million tons of steel were smelted in the world, which is 1.4% less than in the first quarter of last year. In March, the drop in global steel production accelerated to 6%, falling to 147.1 million tons. Global pig iron production in the first quarter of 2020 was 333.68 million tonnes, 0.33% less than in the same period last year.
Worldsteel noted that due to the ongoing difficulties associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, many of this month's figures are estimates by national and regional associations, which may be revised with a production update next month.
