Global DRI production increased by 7% y/y in 2023
GMK Center
Ukrainian based consulting company with the focus on European steel market. News, market studies & sustainability issues
Global direct reduced iron (DRI) production in 2023 increased by 7.4% compared to 2022 – to 135.51 million tonnes from 126.16 million tonnes a year earlier. This is evidenced by data from the WorldSteel Association, Kallanish reports.
India accounted for over 36% of the total DRI production. During the year, Indian companies produced 49.33 million tons of the product, which is 16.7% more than in 2022. Iran, the second largest DRI producer, increased its output by 1.7% y/y – to 33.45 million tons. The share of Iranian DRI in global production was 24.7%. Together, these countries account for about 61.1% of global DRI production.
The Russian Federation, Egypt and Saudi Arabia had a share of 5.7%, 5.3% and 5%, respectively, in global DRI production.
Over the past year, Russia produced 7.78 million tons (+0.9% y/y) of direct reduced iron, Egypt – 7.22 million tons (+19.9%), and Saudi Arabia – 6.81 million tons (+1.5%).
In 2023, the United States reduced DRI production by 0.8% y/y – to 5.24 million tons, Mexico – by 11.6% y/y, to 5.16 million tons, Algeria – increased by 3.1% y/y, to 4 million tons, the UAE – also increased by 4.2% y/y, to 3.59 million tons.
In 2022, global direct reduced iron production increased by 6.9% – to 127.36 million tons. In 2021, these volumes amounted to 119.2 million tons. Midrex plants are the world’s largest supplier of DRI, accounting for almost 80% of global annual production in 2022.
According to World Steel Dynamics, global DRI production is expected to grow by 56.2% by 2030 compared to the base year of 2019 and by 40% compared to 2022, to 175 million tons. The largest growth in DRI production is expected in the European Union and MENA countries.
The global increase in DRI production could be seen as a positive development with potential economic and environmental implications. However, it’s essential to consider the environmental aspects of DRI production. The conventional method involves natural gas-based reduction, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. Any significant increase in DRI production should be accompanied by efforts to adopt cleaner technologies or alternative methods that reduce the environmental impact. In summary, while an increase in global DRI production can signal economic growth, it’s important to balance this with environmental considerations and strive for sustainable and eco-friendly production methods. #justathought
IndEx - Industry Excellence, Asessment on CO2 intensity and decarbonisation of steel industry, Benchmarking on Process yield, Reliability, Process analysis, Project mgt, Occupational and Process safety, Mngt of Change.
1 年Only 750 Mt more to come, need the H2 soon