According to the preliminary data released by the World Steel Association (worldsteel), global direct reduced iron (DRI) production in the first quarter of 2011 came to 15.36 million metric tons, rising by 7.44 percent compared to the corresponding period of 2010.
Meanwhile, in March this year world DRI output totaled 5.55 million metric tons, increasing by 10.43 percent compared to February and up by 8.21 percent year on year.
The worldsteel data show that India was the largest DRI producer among the countries surveyed in March, with a DRI output of 2.36 million metric tons, increasing by 10.67 percent as compared to revised February levels and up 16.54 percent year on year, followed by Iran and Mexico, with outputs of 885,000 mt and 540,000 mt respectively.