Ukrainian iron ore miner Ferrexpo said its overall pellet production rose 14% in 2010 from the previous year to meet stronger demand from steelmakers.

Total pellet output, including production from third-party concentrate, rose to 10Mt for the year.

Its own ore output continued at full capacity in December, resulting in 770.4kt of pellets produced for the month.

Overall pellet production in the last month of the year was down 2.9% from November, but was 8.1% higher than December 2009’s figure.