According to the preliminary data released by the World Steel Association (worldsteel), global direct reduced iron (DRI) production in the 11 countries accounting for approximately 83 percent of total world DRI production came to 25.9 million metric tons in the first five months of this year, increasing slightly by 0.6 percent compared to the corresponding period of 2011.
Meanwhile, in May this year world DRI output totaled 5.3 million metric tons, increasing 1.7 percent as compared to the previous month and down slightly by 0.4 percent year on year.
The worldsteel data show that India was the largest DRI producer among the countries surveyed in May and in the first five months of this year. India's estimated DRI output was 2.5 million metric tons in the month in question, increasing 3.3 percent compared to April levels and up 1.6 percent year on year. India was followed by Iran and Mexico, with estimated outputs of 995,000 mt and 510,000 mt respectively.