A total of 9.68 million tons of DRI, also known as sponge iron, were produced in Iran during the first four months of 2021 to register a 3.3% growth compared with the corresponding period of 2020, the latest report released by the World Steel Association shows.
The country was the second biggest DRI producer in the world during the period under review, after its primary rival, India, which produced a total of 12.13 million tons (up 27.7% year-on-year), according to the Brussels-based international trade body for the iron and steel industry.
The world’s total DRI output in the first four months of 2021 stood at 30.43 million tons to witness a 13.6% growth YOY.
Other major DRI producers in the world were Saudi Arabia with 2.05 million tons (up 18% YOY), Mexico with 1.9 million tons (up 15% YOY), Egypt with 1.7 tons (down 3.6% YOY), the UAE with 1.3 million tons (up 12.8% YOY), Canada with 595,000 tons (up 21.7% YOY), Libya with 403,000 tons (up 47% YOY), Argentina with 261,000 tons (up 10% YOY), Qatar with 241,000 tons (down 43% YOY), Venezuela with 77,000 tons (down 40% YOY) and South Africa with 65,000 tons (up 81% YOY).
Mobarakeh Steel Company, located in Isfahan Province, is Iran's biggest producer of sponge iron. MSC is also the biggest steel producer in Iran and the wider Middle East and North Africa region.
DRI 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 a total of 10 million tons of crude steel in the first four months of 2021, which indicate a 9.6% rise compared with 2020.
As per the latest report released by the World Steel Association, Iran's April output amounted to 2.5 million tons, up 6.4%.
The report ranks Iran the world’s 10th biggest crude steel producer. China was the world’s largest crude steel producer in the four-month period with 374.6 million tons of steel output, up 15.8% YOY.
It was followed by India with 38.2 million tons (up 26.9%), Japan with 31.5 million tons (up 2.7%), the United States with 27.3 million tons (up 2.8%), Russia with 25.5 million tons (up 7.1%), South Korea with 23.4 million tons (up 6.5%), Germany with 13.5 million tons (up 9%) and Turkey with 13.1 million tons (up 16.9%).
Iran is placed after Brazil (ninth) with 11.8 million tons, 15.9% higher than the corresponding period of 2020.
The world’s 64 steelmakers produced a total of 662.8 million tons of steel over the four months, up 13.7% YOY. States located in Asia and Oceania collectively produced 487.8 million tons of the total.
The Middle East produced 14.1 million tons of crude steel in the four months, posting an increase of 18.2% compared with the same period of last year.
Global steel output experienced a 23.3% growth in April to 169.5 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 Covid-19 spread in early 2019.
Global output is expected to keep rising in the coming months, as coronavirus restrictions ease and high prices encourage production, according to Reuters, as the 23% growth is exaggerated due to closures a year ago when the pandemic was at its height.
"The year-on-year growth rate is flattered by base effects," Caroline Bain, chief commodities economist at Capital Economics, said in a note.
"That being said, by our calculations, daily global steel output rose by close to 3.5% month-on-month in April ... in large part owing to high and rising global steel prices."
Lower month-on-month output in India was offset by large gains in China, Russia and Brazil, she added.
Crude steel output from China, the world's top producer and consumer of the metal, gained 7.5% in April compared with March, the World Steel Association data showed, despite efforts by authorities to dampen output to curb carbon emissions.
Renewed pandemic restrictions were likely behind the 14.4% month-on-month drop in Indian steel production and a 2% dip in European Union output, Bain said.
The association, a group of producers that accounts for about 85% of global steel output, last month upgraded its global demand forecast to a rise of 5.8% this year.
"A number of capacity expansions and restarts have been announced, particularly in the US and India. Accordingly, we expect global steel production to rise this year, which will ultimately lead to lower regional prices," Bain said.
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, as well as 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 a total of 29.02 million tons of crude steel in 2020, which indicate a 13.35% rise compared with 2019, the highest growth in output in the list of the world's top 10 producers.
