World DRI output declines slightly in May from April

According to the preliminary data released by the World Steel Association (worldsteel), global direct reduced iron (DRI) production in the first five months of 2011 came to 25.6 million metric tons, increasing by 4.9 percent compared to the corresponding period of 2010.
 
Meanwhile, in May this year world DRI output totaled 5.21 million metric tons, falling by 1.1 percent compared to April and up by 1.1 percent year on year.
 
The worldsteel data show that India was the largest DRI producer among the countries surveyed in May, with a DRI output of 2.23 million metric tons, increasing by 0.45 percent as compared to April levels and down 3.46 percent year on year, followed by Iran and Mexico, with outputs of 849,000 mt and 565,000 mt respectively.