According to the results of 2025, global iron production decreased by 1.7% compared to 2024 and amounted to 1.368 billion tons. Such data was published by the World Steel Association (WorldSteel), reports agronews.ua.

129.2 million tons of iron were smelted using direct reduction technology, while blast furnace production amounted to 1.239 billion tons.

In December 2025, iron production decreased by 3.9% year-on-year, but at the same time increased slightly in monthly comparison - by 0.1% to 107.7 million tons. At the same time, 96.6 million tons were produced by the blast furnace method (-8.6% y/y; +0.2% m/m), and 11.2 million tons by the direct reduction method (+23.5% y/y; -0.9% m/m).

The largest producers of pig iron in the world remain: China — 836.04 million tons (-3% y/y), India — 154.43 million tons (+6.7% y/y), Japan — 58.45 million tons (-4.2% y/y), Russia — 58.49 million tons (-1.3% y/y) and South Korea — 43.5 million tons (+0.6% y/y).

Ukraine ranks 13th in the world's iron ore producers, having increased its iron ore production to 7.88 million tons, an 11.2% increase over 2024.

Experts say that the decline in global iron ore production is primarily due to declining volumes in China and Japan, while the Indian and Ukrainian markets are growing. Such trends are affecting global iron ore prices and creating new logistical challenges for steel companies.