Tehran, Iran, Nov. 1
By Milad Fashtami - Trend:
Iran exported 350,000-360,000 tons of sponge iron in the previous Iranian calendar year (which ended on March 20).
Seyyed Mohammad Fatemian, director of mineral industries department of Iran's Industry, Mine, and Trade Ministry, said that the country also imported equal amount of sponge iron in the mentioned 12-month period, Iran's IRNA News Agency reported on November 1.
"The exporters didn't pay attention to the country's domestic demands," he said.
Iran's current sponge iron production capacity is around 18 million metric tons.
The figure is expected to increase by 19 million metric tons in near future.
Direct-reduced iron (DRI), also called sponge iron, is produced from direct reduction of iron ore (in the form of lumps, pellets or fines) by a reducing gas produced from natural gas or coal. The reducing gas is a mixture, the majority of which is hydrogen (H2) and carbon monoxide (CO) which act as reducing agents. This process of reducing the iron ore in solid form by reducing gases is called direct reduction.