According to the preliminary data released by the World Steel Association (worldsteel), global direct reduced iron (DRI) production in the 13 countries accounting for approximately 82 percent of total world DRI production in 2012 amounted to 5.2 million metric tons in July this year, increasing by 4.4 percent as compared to the previous month and up by 8.3 percent year on year.
Meanwhile, world DRI output came to 35.2 million metric tons in the first seven months of this year, increasing by 4.4 percent compared to the corresponding period of 2012.
The worldsteel data show that India was again the largest DRI producer among the countries surveyed in July this year. India's estimated DRI output was 1.6 million metric tons in the given period, decreasing by 4.9 percent year on year. India was followed by Iran, Mexico and Saudi Arabia in July, with estimated outputs of 1.3 million mt, 515,000 mt and 406,000 mt respectively. A 44 percent year-on year increase was recorded in Iran's DRI production in the month in question, while Mexico's DRI output was down 12.5 percent compared to July 2012.