South America's pig iron production fell 1.43% year-on-year to 14.5Mt in January-June from 14.7Mt.

The region's pig iron output in June stood at 2.48Mt, up 0.32% from 2.47Mt, said World Steel Association in a release.

Global pig iron production in the 38 countries reporting to worldsteel totaled 593Mt in the first half, a 1.67% increase from 583Mt.

Global output in June grew 2.71% to 98.4Mt from 95.8Mt.

Brazil's pig iron production in January-June reached 12.7Mt, down 1.95% from 12.9Mt.

For June, output increased 1.97% to 2.17Mt, worldsteel said.

China's pig iron production in H1 was 362Mt, up 1.25% from 358Mt. For June, it was up 2.86% to 60Mt. China is the world's leading pig iron producer.