Baft Steel Company Launches DRI Production Plant

EghtesadOnline: President Hassan Rouhani inaugurated Baft Steel Company’s new direct reduction iron plant on Monday during a visit to Kerman Province.

News ID: ۷۸۵۰۱۴

13 November 2019

The DRI production plant has an annual capacity of 800,000 tons, IRNA reported.

The plant’s development started in the fiscal March 2007-08 in a 612-hectare land. It has created 250 direct and 2,500 indirect jobs.

President Rouhani also broke ground on another project at Baft Steel Company on Monday, namely a pellet and briquette production unit with a capacity of 2.5 million tons per year. Launched by Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization, the project requires an investment of €250 million. It is expected to become operational in the second half of the Iranian year 1401 (March 2022-03) and create 500 direct and 5,000 indirect jobs, Financial Tribune reported.

Iran is the second biggest DRI producer in the world after India.

The World Steel Association's latest report shows the country produced 16.65 million tons of direct-reduced iron during the first seven months of 2019 to register a 16.3% growth compared with the corresponding period of 2018.

Iran’s July DRI output grew 22.6% year-on-year to hit 2.47 million tons.

The country produced a total of 25.54 million tons of DRI in 2018, up 31.6% YOY.

Iran's largest steelmaker Mobarakeh Steel Company is the world's biggest producer of direct-reduced iron.

The company along with its subsidiaries accounted for more than 43% of Iran’s total direct-reduced iron production last year (ended March 20, 2019) with output exceeding 10.5 million tons.

Located in south western Isfahan, Mobarakeh Steel Company has a remarkable share of 50% in Iran’s steel production.

The company is the biggest steel producer in Iran and the 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 makes optimum use of energy and raw materials, while reducing production costs with the added advantage of being more environment-friendly compared to other direct reduction methods.

There are generally three methods of DRI production: HYL process, presently marketed under ‘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 will cut production costs by reducing the initial investment and operational costs. It is also more eco-friendly.

DRI, also known as 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.

Crude steel is dominantly produced using two methods: making cast iron in blast furnaces or using DRI and scrap in electric arc furnaces.

More than 70% of the world’s steel are made using blast furnaces, while Iranian steelmaking is mostly dominated by EAFs.