Features
Steel Summit: US lagging in DRI Commitments
Written by Stephen Miller
August 29, 2025
Thais Terzian, principal analyst at CRU, gave a presentation on ore-based metallics (OBM), namely pig iron and direct-reduced iron (DRI), and how important they are to the global steel industry.
Presenting at SMU Steel Summit in Atlanta, Terzian pointed out the nations producing pig iron that US mills could source for importation. However, with recent tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, the number of sources has been reduced to two countries: Brazil and Ukraine. There remains a 10% tariff on pig iron from both of these sources.
On the DRI front, Terzian explained DRI and its cousin hot-briquetted iron (HBI), are crucial in the decarbonization era and the transition to EAF melting.
She indicated there are several commitments to build DRI plants across the globe. Strikingly missing from this list is the United States. She affirmed there are no firm commitments to build additional production facilities in the US for the next several years, despite the new EAF capacity coming on-line during this period.
In the Midrex Technologies annual report for 2024 on world DRI production, they reported total worldwide production increased by 5.1% to 140.8 million metric tons (mt) year over year. Over the last five years, DRI production has increased by 30%. Of the 2024 total, the US produced 5.22 million mt, putting it behind Egypt and Iran but slightly above Mexico on production.
The domestic DRI/HBI production facilities include Nucor-Convent, La,; ArcelorMittal, Corpus Christi, Texas; and Cleveland-Cliffs, Toledo, Ohio. The US does import another 1.5 million mt per year of DRI from Nucor-Trinidad.
In the report’s section on planned increased capacity, there were no listed projects on the block for the US. There has been talk but no firm commitment on the part of US steelmakers.
There have, however, been announcements from foreign concerns. Hyundai, along with Posco, has announced plans to build a new sheet mill with a DRI module on the Lower Mississippi, for example.
In addition, U.S. Steel (now partnered with Nippon Steel) has indicated it plans to build a module in the future. However, these facilities are years away and it is unclear whether any of this future production will be merchant.
Stephen Miller
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