World DRI output declines in February

According to the preliminary data released by the World Steel Association (worldsteel), global direct reduced iron (DRI) production in the first two months of 2011 came to 9.15 million metric tons, decreasing slightly by 0.24 percent compared to the corresponding period of 2009.
 
Meanwhile, in February this year world DRI output totaled 4.36 million metric tons, falling by 8.9 percent compared to January and down by 2.68 percent year on year.
 
The worldsteel data show that India was the largest DRI producer among the countries surveyed in February, with a DRI output of 1.54 million metric tons, declining by 9.71 percent as compared to January levels and down 9.23 percent year on year, followed by Iran and Saudi Arabia, with outputs of 800,000 mt and 442,000 mt respectively.