According to the data released by the World Steel Association (worldsteel), global direct reduced iron (DRI) production in the 14 countries accounting for approximately 82 percent of total world DRI production in 2012 amounted to 4.88 million metric tons in December last year, increasing 0.23 percent compared to November and up 4.39 percent year on year.
Meanwhile, world DRI output came to 58.94 million metric tons in 2013, increasing by 6.46 percent compared to 2012.
The worldsteel data show that India was the largest DRI producer among the countries surveyed in 2013, by a narrower margin than in the previous year as compared with Iran. India's estimated DRI output was 14.64 million metric tons in the given month, decreasing by 26.07 percent, while Iran's estimated DRI output rose to 14.46 million metric tons, increasing by 24.83 percent, both compared to 2012. Iran was followed by Mexico and Saudi Arabia in 2013, with estimated outputs of 6.13 million mt, up 10.90 percent, and 5.30 million mt, up 6.47 percent, year on year, respectively.