Global DRI output totals 70.4 million mt in 2010

International process engineering and technology company, Midrex Technologies, has published its World Direct Reduction Statistics 2010 report. Accordingly, the significant production increases in direct reduced iron (DRI) in the wake of the recent financial crisis were remarkable. The Midrex report shows that total global DRI production in 2010 was 70.4 million mt, while in the last four months of the year world DRI output averaged 105 percent of the prior best production rate which was recorded in the summer of 2008, although the major force on the direct reduction industry was the rising cost of its main raw material, iron ore. The total global DRI production in 2009 was recorded as 62 million mt. The number one nation for DR ironmaking in 2010 was again India as it has been every year since 2003. India’s DRI production in 2010 was 23.4 million tons, with 17.3 million mt produced in rotary kilns. Second place was again taken by Iran with 9.4 million mt. The next three were Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Russia with 5.5 million mt, 5.4 million mt and 4.8 million mt respectively. Venezuela, which was in first place in 2002 and which produced almost nine million mt in 2005, suffered a decline to less than 3.8 million mt, leaving over five million metric tons of oper¬able capacity unused.