Direct reduction's role in the world steel industry

Abstract

Given the availability of iron ore in the world and the continued production of scrap, both of which are valuable raw materials, there will always be a mixture of primary (iron ore-based) v. secondary (scrap-based) steelmaking production. For the last 35 years, about 65% of the world’s steel has been produced from iron ore. Since its development in the 1400s, the blast furnace has provided the major volume of this iron. Beginning in the 1950s and 1960s, direct reduction (i.e., the production of iron from ore without melting) was commercialized and began to play a role in the world iron market.