Global Merchant Pig Iron Market Research Report 2023-Competitive Analysis, Status and Outlook by Type, Downstream Industry, and Geography, Forecast to 2029

Global Merchant Pig Iron Market Research Report 2023-Competitive Analysis, Status and Outlook by Type, Downstream Industry, and Geography, Forecast to 2029

Pig iron is the product of smelting iron ore (also ilmenite) with a high-carbon fuel and reductant such as coke, usually with limestone as a flux. Merchant pig iron is cold pig iron, cast into ingots and sold to third parties as feedstock for the steel and ferrous casting industries.

Market Overview:

The latest research study on the global Merchant Pig Iron market finds that the global Merchant Pig Iron market reached a value of USD 63238.32 million in 2022. It’s expected that the market will achieve USD 75193.13 million by 2028, exhibiting a CAGR of 2.93% during the forecast period.

More than 6.28 million people have died from COVID-19 globally since the outbreak began, and the death toll continues to rise. At present, the global economy continues to recover, but due to the disruption of supply chains, the uncertainty of the epidemic has increased, the uncertainty of global economic recovery has increased, and the momentum of recovery has weakened. It's the worst global recession in decades, despite huge efforts by governments to fight it, backed by fiscal and monetary policy. But in the longer term, a severe recession triggered by the pandemic is expected to lead to a prolonged downturn in the economy by reducing investment. The recession could get worse if the COVID-19 outbreak continues, if restrictions on liquidity are extended or reintroduced, or if economic activity is disrupted for a prolonged period. Businesses may struggle to service debt, increased risk aversion could lead to higher borrowing costs, and bankruptcy and defaults could lead to financial crises in many countries.

The outbreak has had a complex impact on the Merchant Pig Iron industry. First, for the Merchant Pig Iron industry, the outbreak has had an impact on the production plans of companies in the Merchant Pig Iron industry. Due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 outbreak, operations in the iron ore mining industry have been affected and mining activities have decreased, thereby affecting iron ore production. This could lead to disruptions in the supply of raw materials for the Merchant Pig Iron industry, affecting the company's production plans. On the other hand, affected by the new crown pneumonia epidemic, in order to prevent the further spread of the epidemic, the government has issued travel restrictions and related isolation policies, which reduced the management efficiency of industry enterprises and affected the company's production plan. At the same time, due to the disruption of the global supply chain caused by the epidemic, the vast majority of the world's manufacturing industries have been affected, such as automobile manufacturing, nuclear power, hydropower, construction and other industries have been greatly affected, and production plans have been delayed. Therefore, the demand for steel and iron castings in these industries has decreased, and the development of the industry has been hit. In general, the outbreak of the new crown epidemic is not conducive to the development of the Merchant Pig Iron industry.

Market demand for high-purity pig iron increases

Merchant Pig Iron is the basic guarantee raw material for the development of the foundry and manufacturing industries. The improvement of the quality of iron castings depends to a considerable extent on the quality of pig iron. Compared with basic pig iron, high-purity pig iron is mainly used in wind power castings, nuclear power castings, large-section ductile iron castings, and high-end ductile iron castings with low temperature impact toughness and fatigue performance requirements.
In recent years, with the development of industries such as automobiles, wind power, ships, and high-speed trains, the demand for high-quality cast iron parts, austempered ductile iron parts (ADI), large-section ductile iron parts and ductile iron parts with special performance requirements has continued to increase. The market demand for high-purity pig iron is increasing day by day. For example, in the field of wind power, the increasing demand for renewable energy has led to the rapid growth of wind turbine generators, especially high-power turbine engines, which has brought development opportunities for high-demand ADI castings. In the automotive manufacturing process, high-quality castings are required for components such as cylinder heads, bases, brackets and couplings, ingot molds, bases, brackets and couplings, and hydraulic components. In general, with the development of the manufacturing industry, the market for various high-performance castings has increased, thereby increasing the market demand for high-purity pig iron. Rising demand for high-speed pig iron will boost the Merchant Pig Iron industry.

Fluctuations in raw material prices

The main raw materials required for the company's production are iron ore, scrap steel, coke, etc. Among them, iron ore is one of the main raw materials produced by the company. The supply of major raw materials and the risk of price fluctuations will have a material adverse impact on the company's continued profitability.
The industry characteristics of Merchant Pig Iron manufacturers make them reliant on major suppliers for raw material procurement. Adverse changes in the company's partnership with these key suppliers, or adverse changes in the operations and financial conditions of key suppliers, may result in the company's inability to procure regular quantities in a timely and sufficient manner. At the same time, the price fluctuation of raw materials will also have an impact on the company's production costs. If the price of raw materials increases, it will cause the production cost of Merchant Pig Iron to rise and reduce the profit margin of the product. The company's production and operation plan will be adjusted.

Region Overview:

Geographically, China held the largest market share – 60.21% in 2022.

Company Overview:

Tulachermet is one of the major players operating in the Merchant Pig Iron market, holding a share of 2.03% in 2023.

Tulachermet

Tulachermet produces more than 20 various Russian grades of pig iron for steel works and foundries, seven of which are steel-making pig iron grades, and the rest 13 are foundry pig iron grades. Tulachermet produces nine pig iron grades for export markets, including steel-making pig iron for steel works and foundries, nodular and semi-nodular grades for manufacturers of malleable iron castings and six grades of foundry pig iron for foundries.

Metalloinvest

Metalloinvest is a global leader in the production of commercial hot briquette iron (HBI), a leading manufacturer and supplier of iron ore and metallized products, and one of the regional producers of high-quality steel.

Segmentation Overview:

By type, Basic Pig Iron segment accounted for the largest share of market in 2022.

Basic Pig Iron

Basic Pig Iron is used mainly in electric arc steelmaking.

Foundry Pig Iron

Foundry Pig Iron is also known as haematite pig iron. Used in mainly in the manufacture of grey iron castings in cupola furnaces

High Purity Pig

Iron High purity pig iron is also known as nodular pig iron. Used in the manufacture of ductile iron castings.

Application Overview:

The market's largest segment by application is the segment Electric Arc Steelmaking, with a market share of 95.36% in 2022.

Electric Arc Steelmaking

Electric arc steelmaking is a steelmaking method that uses the thermal effect of the electric arc to heat the charge for smelting. Electric arc furnace steelmaking is the main method for producing medium and high alloy steels and high-quality steels.

Grey Iron Castings

Gray cast iron castings are usually made by smelting Foundry Pig Iron, which is an alloy of iron and carbon. Gray iron castings have the ability to withstand larger compressive forces, so they have higher compressive strength, which is about three times the tensile strength. Gray cast iron castings have high damping capacity and excellent processing capabilities, which makes them very suitable for all types of machine bases, cylinder blocks and brake components. Another important feature of gray cast iron castings is that they have strong oxidation resistance, which can prevent rust.

Ductile Iron Castings

Ductile iron castings are solid metal objects that result from molten ductile iron being poured into voids in a mold. The ductile iron subsequently cools and solidifies in the shape of the void it occupies. Ductile Iron contains spheroidal (nodular) shaped graphite, is higher strength than Gray Iron, and weighs less than steel for the same section size.

Key Companies in the global Merchant Pig Iron market covered in Chapter 3:

Metalloinvest
DMZ
Vedanta
Tronox
NLMK Group
Metinvest
Guoming Ductile Iron Pipes
NINL
Rio Tinto Group
Longfengshan Casting Industry
SAIL
China Hanking
Tulachermet

In Chapter 4 and Chapter 14.2, on the basis of types, the Merchant Pig Iron market from 2018 to 2029 is primarily split into:

Basic Pig Iron
Foundry Pig Iron
High Purity Pig Iron

In Chapter 5 and Chapter 14.3, on the basis of Downstream Industry, the Merchant Pig Iron market from 2018 to 2029 covers:

Electric Arc Steelmaking
Grey Iron Castings
Ductile Iron Castings

Geographically, the detailed analysis of consumption, revenue, market share and growth rate, historic and forecast (2018-2029) of the following regions are covered in Chapter 8 to Chapter 14:

North America (United States, Canada)
Europe (Germany, UK, France, Italy, Spain, Russia, Netherlands, Turkey, Switzerland, Sweden)
Asia Pacific (China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia)
Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, Argentina)
Middle East & Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, South Africa)