India to increase DRI production, say experts

India to increase DRI production, say experts

Experts in India claim that volatile steel prices and the tight availability of coking coal in the international market will eventually force Indian steel producers to use direct reduced iron (DRI), or sponge iron, for steelmaking. Blast furnaces and basic oxygen furnaces consume more coking coal, meaning they rely more heavily upon increasingly expensive imported raw material. DRI production on the other hand does not require coking coal, but instead good quality non-coking coal. In this case, India's abundant non-coking coal and iron ore resources set the stage perfectly for an increase in DRI production. Assuming an increase in DRI output, India is expected to surpass leading DRI producing countries, such as Brazil, Venezuela, Mexico and Iran. India produced 8.5 million tons of DRI in 2004, 17% of total world production. India is expected to account for 20-25% of world production by 2010.