According to the preliminary data released by the World Steel Association (worldsteel), global direct reduced iron (DRI) production in the 11 countries accounting for approximately 83 percent of total world DRI production in 2010 totaled 4.9 million metric tons in February this year, decreasing 3.9 percent as compared to the previous month and up by 13.4 percent year on year.
Meanwhile, world DRI output came to 10 million metric tons in the first two months of this year, increasing by 12.2 percent compared to the corresponding period of 2012.
The worldsteel data show that India was again the largest DRI producer among the countries surveyed in February this year. India's estimated DRI output was 1.55 million metric tons in the given month, decreasing by 5.8 percent month on month and down 5.4 percent compared to February 2012. India was followed by Iran, Mexico and Saudi Arabia in February this year, with estimated outputs of 992,000 mt, 660,000 mt and 436,000 mt respectively. A 12.3 percent year-on year increase was recorded in Iran's DRI production in February, while Mexico's DRI output was more than double compared to February 2012.