Iran Remains World's 2nd Largest Producer of DRI

A total of 12.18 million tons of DRI, also known as sponge iron, were produced in Iran during January-May to register a 1.6% decline compared with the corresponding period of 2020, the latest report released by the World Steel Association shows.

The country has remained the second biggest DRI producer in the world, after its primary rival, India, which produced a total of 16.27 million tons (up 40% year-on-year) during the period under review, according to the Brussels-based international trade body for the iron and steel industry.

The world’s total DRI output in the first five months of 2021 stood at 42.84 million tons to witness a 16.3% growth YOY.

Other major DRI producers in the world were Saudi Arabia with 2.6 million tons (up 21.1% YOY), Mexico with 2.4 million tons (up 23% YOY), Egypt with 2.1 tons (down 4.2% YOY), the UAE with 1.6 million tons (up 25.8% YOY), Canada with 747,000 tons (up 52.8% YOY), Libya with 321,000 tons (up 41.1% YOY), Argentina with 552,000 tons (up 132.7% YOY), Qatar with 314,000 tons (down 28.9% YOY), Venezuela with 148,000 tons (up 1% YOY) and South Africa with 91,000 tons (up 152.4% YOY).

Mobarakeh Steel Company, located in Isfahan Province, is Iran's biggest producer of sponge iron. MSC is the biggest steel producer in Iran and the wider Middle East and North Africa region.

Iran is the engineer of the so-called direct-reduction technology called PERED, or Persian Reduction, invented and patented by Mines and Metals Engineering GmbH, an Iranian engineering company registered in Germany.

PERED technology, which makes optimum use of energy and raw materials, reduces production costs with the added advantage of being more environment-friendly compared to other direct reduction methods.

There are generally three methods for DRI production: HYL process, presently marketed under the Energiron trademark, jointly developed by Tenova and Danieli; MIDREX Process patented by Midrex Technologies Inc. along with its parent company Kobe Steel Ltd; in addition to PERED.

The replacement of MIDREX and Energiron with PERED cuts the production costs by reducing the initial investment and operational costs. Moreover, it is more eco-friendly.

Sponge iron is produced from direct reduction of iron ore in the form of lumps, pellets or fines by a reducing gas. It can be processed to create wrought iron.

World’s 10th Biggest Steelmaker

Iranian steel mills produced 12.5 million tons of crude steel in the first five months of 2021, which indicate a 9.2% rise compared with the corresponding period of 2020. 

As per the latest report released by World Steel Association, Iran's May output amounted to 2.6 million tons, up 7.7% year-on-year. 

The report ranks Iran the world’s 10th biggest crude steel producer. China was the world’s largest crude steel producer in the five-month period with 473.1 million tons of steel output, up 13.9% YOY.

It was followed by India with 48.6 million tons (up 33.6%), Japan with 40 million tons (up 9.1%), the United States with 34.8 million tons (up 10.6%), Russia with 31.9 million tons (up 7.9%), South Korea with 29.3 million tons (up 6.9%), Germany with 17 million tons (up 13.6%) and Turkey with 16.3 million tons (up 21.2%).

Iran is placed after Brazil (ninth) with 14.9 million tons, 20.3% higher than the corresponding period of 2020. 

The world’s 64 steelmakers produced a total of 837.5 million tons of steel over the five months, up 14.5% YOY. States located in Asia and Oceania collectively produced 616.5 million tons of the total. 

The Middle East produced 17.8 million tons of crude steel in the five months under review, posting an increase of 8.1% compared with the same period of last year.

Global steel output also experienced a 16.5% growth in May to 174.4 million tons. 

World's major steel producers seem to have recovered their output in 2021, after the global closure of businesses and disruption in industrial operations, as a result of Covid-19 transmission in early 2019.

Crude steel is defined as steel in its first solid (or usable) form: ingots and semi-finished products (billets, blooms and slabs). This is not to be confused with liquid steel, which is steel poured.

The World Steel Association is one of the largest and most dynamic industry associations in the world, with members in every major steel-producing country. Worldsteel represents steel producers, national and regional steel industry associations, and steel research institutes. Members represent around 85% of global steel production.

The 64 countries included in this table represent around 85% of global steel production.

Iranian steel mills produced 29.02 million tons of crude steel in 2020, which indicate a 13.35% rise compared with 2019, the highest growth in the output in the list of world's top 10 producers. 

Located in southwestern Isfahan, Mobarakeh Steel Company is the biggest steel producer in Iran and the Middle East and North Africa region.