3rd DRI Plant Equipped with PERERD Technology Comes on Stream in Neiriz

According to the report of public relations of IMIDRO, Mohammad Shaariatmadari, Industry, Mine and Trade Minister, Mehdi Karbasian, Chairman of the board of IMIDRO and Esmaeil Tabar, Fars Governor, attended the inauguration ceremony.

Neiriz Ghadir Steel Company established with 65 percent investment by Ghadir Investment Company and 35 percent by IMIDRO.

Before the ceremony, Karbasian during a press conference expressed that in 2013 steel chain was unbalanced but IMIDRO's strategy review and its actions for construction of possessing and DRI plants led to balance in steel chain.

Iran was an importer of pellets until last year but this challenge has been solved now. Iran produces 19.5 million tonnes of DRI, so it has surplus which lead to pellet exports, Karbasin said.

Deputy of Industry, Mine and Trade Minister added Iran exported 600thousand tonnes sponge iron during first nine months of the current Iranian year (21March_21 December) which is expected to rise to one million tonnes by the year end.

He noted the capacity building in steel chain and declared "since 2014 we have 120 percent capacity building in pellets and 48 percent and 26 percent in steel and sponge iron respectively".

Neiriz DRI Pant is the third DRI plant in Iran equipped with the Iranian direct-reduction technology called PERED or Persian Reduction, invented and patented by MME Co., an Iranian engineering company registered in Germany.

The technology, which makes optimum use of energy and raw materials, reduces production costs with the added advantage of being more environment-friendly compared to other direct reduction methods.

Mianeh and Shadegan DRI were inaugurated as the first and second plants equipped with PERED technology during the current year.

Neiriz DRI plant is one of the provincial steel projects which was stagnant until 2013. It was activated by IMIDRO since the beginning of the 11^th Government.