According to the data released by the World Steel Association (worldsteel), global direct reduced iron (DRI) production in the 14 countries accounting for approximately 87 percent of total world DRI production in 2013 amounted to 5.08 million metric tons in March this year, increasing by 4.64 percent year on year and up 10.57 percent month on month.
Meanwhile, world DRI output came to 14.04 million metric tons in the first quarter of this year, increasing by 1.87 percent compared to the corresponding period of 2013.
The worldsteel data show that India was the largest DRI producer among the countries surveyed in March this year. India's estimated DRI output was 1.36 million metric tons in the given month, increasing by 13.90 percent year on year. India was followed by Iran, Mexico and Saudi Arabia in March, with estimated outputs of 1.18 million mt, 540,000 mt and 475,674 mt respectively.