According to the preliminary data released by the World Steel Association (worldsteel), global direct reduced iron (DRI) production in January this year in the countries reporting to worldsteel amounted to 4.5 million metric tons, declining 1.35 percent compared to January 2012 and down 3.4 percent month on month.
The worldsteel data show that India was the largest DRI producer among the countries surveyed in January. However, in the given month India's estimated DRI output decreased by 8.25 percent compared to the same month of 2012 to 1.6 million metric tons. Iran followed India with 792,000 mt of DRI production in January this year, down 14.3 percent year on year. Meanwhile, Mexico's DRI output in January rose to 500,000 mt, up 41.6 percent compared to the same month of 2012.