USD 52.27 billion
Report ID:
SQMIG15O2040 |
Region:
Global |
Published Date: July, 2025
Pages:
192
|Tables:
119
|Figures:
78
Direct Reduced Iron market size was valued at USD 52.27 billion in 2023 and is poised to grow from USD 57.07 billion in 2024 to USD 115.41 billion by 2032, expanding at a CAGR of 9.2% during the forecast period (2025-2032).
Innovation is rampant in the Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) market as there is a growing demand for energy-efficient, low-emission steel production. The global direct reduced iron market growth is likely to catalyze DRI technologies as well as species for steelmaking (DRI - renewable emissions), concerning decarbonizing steelmaking from a global standpoint, to an increase in demand in infrastructure and for automotive use of steel, to the eco-sustainability advantages of DRI as a product. In addition, modern steelmakers will, with their evolving product line, want to produce steel sustainably and at a reasonable cost, and a category likely to grow significantly in this respect would be DRI products, specifically in the context of electric arc furnace production, emerging economies, sustainability focus, and green steel production.
Steel manufacturers will continue to seek ways to reduce carbon emissions (mostly in compliance with governments and local authorities), and DRI could be a fine substitute or alternative to the older blast furnace steel-making approach. The greatest part of the future of the DRI category is that it will meet environmental regulatory pressures and provide an alternative pathway for organizations mindful of an evolving world where carbon taxation and carbon compliance costs exist. The advantage of DRI use is being realized based on less energy use, less carbon footprint, use of coke and coal on a reliance level.
In 2025, the metals and mining industry in Asia and the Middle East is entering a new era of sustainable steelmaking by using new gas-based and hydrogen-based DRI technologies. The concept of innovation has moved from a "trend" to a strategic imperative, and it is being embodied across the supply chain, including the important producers across the region: India, Iran, and Saudi Arabia. Companies are pursuing new joint ventures and entering into technology licensing agreements in the face of increased demand for green steel. New partnerships will start to solidify a pathway for the DRI market to be a key building block to drive production forward, a critical step to transition to low-carbon metallurgy for DRI technology providers and steel makers into the global direct reduced iron industry.
Why Is the Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) Segment Crucial for the Future of Steelmaking?
As global steelmaking moves towards a more sustainable, low-emission business model, the industry is attempting to navigate a perfect storm of challenges, including carbon neutrality and raw material limits. These challenges signal an increasing importance for Direct Reduced Iron, as we are seeing additional DRI deployments, offering a cleaner process than the traditional blast furnace route, as it is a lower CO₂ emission process and requires less energy to make iron. The increasing interest in hydrogen-based and gas-based DRI processes has prompted more established steelmakers to retrofit existing processes to meet and align with these evolving environmental standards. The interest in DRI is also leading to increased investments in R&D hubs and metallurgical innovation clusters that focus on green steel solutions.
Market snapshot - (2025-2032)
Global Market Size
USD 52.27 billion
Largest Segment
Fastest Growth
Growth Rate
9.2% CAGR
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The global direct reduced iron market is segmented into product, technology, application, end-use, and region. By product, the market is classified into hot briquetted iron and cold directed reduced iron. Depending on the technology, it is divided into gas-based and coal-based. According to the application, the market is divided into steelmaking, electric arc furnace, basic oxygen furnace, foundries, and others. As per the end use, it is divided into Construction, Automotive, Aerospace, Machinery and equipment, Electrical and Electronic, Renewable Energy, and Others. Regionally, it is analyzed across North AMerica, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa.
Which Application Segment is Currently Leading the Direct Reduced Iron Market?
As per global direct reduced iron market analysis, electric arc furnaces (EAF) hold the largest share of the market due to the increased supply of steel using EAF technology is in direct line with the increased demand for low-carbon steel and a low-emission production process. DRI can be directly used as feed into an EAF, with the most successful form of DRI (HBI) enabling steel producers to move from blast-furnace and coke-based steel to partially substitute feedstock. In Europe and North America, it is best demonstrated by the increasing regulatory pressure and emissions targets driving steel producers to switch to less harmful inputs.
Conversely, basic furnace (BF) is the fastest-growing application segment, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. Even if BOFs have always used molten iron from a BF, BOF operators in emerging economies are mixing the DRI with BF iron, allowing emissions decreases while still using their basic premise for processing steel. This blending effect will only result in small gains towards emissions decreases without completely phasing out the existing sources that were described earlier. DRI in this case is also aided by greater availability.
Which End–user Group is Experiencing Growth in Direct Reduced Iron Market?
Based on global direct reduced iron market forecast indicates that the construction and infrastructure sector is the largest end-use market for DRI because steel is primarily made and consumed locally for civil infrastructure, urban, and housing developments. Thus, countries such as India, China and Saudi Arabia with significant infrastructure development plans are stimulating demands for DRI, and sustainably produced steel with DRI. Any reductions in emissions from DRI generally result in reduced environmental impacts, and the procurement of sustainable commodities is already a criterion being sought after in development procurement by both public and private sector mega-project designers, developers and contractors.
On the other hand, the automotive sector segment of the market is expected to have the fastest-growing direct reduced iron market share. The automotive market is shifting towards lighter-weight, renewable, and electric vehicles and simultaneously demanding a cleaner and purer grade of steel. The automotive sector is seeking advice from steel producers to obtain steel that is either hydrogen-based or gas-based DRI to ensure their manufacturing practices are transitioning towards carbon-neutral steel. The automotive sector is further challenged as Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) forge strategic partnerships with steel producers, which will provide steel to the OEM for their future vehicles with lower emissions, including carbon-neutral supply chains.
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What Factors Are Driving Growth of the Direct Reduced Iron Market in Asia-Pacific?
As per the direct reduced iron market regional analysis, the Asia-Pacific direct reduced iron sector dominated the global market in 2024. The Asia Pacific region is the most vibrant and dynamic in terms of DRI activity, and is anticipating expansion based on growing industrialization, rising steel consumption, and decarbonization initiatives.
India Direct Reduced Iron Market
India is a major producer and consumer of DRI. Along with being one of the largest producers of sponge iron (DRI) and adding DRI capacity predominantly on coal and gas-based technologies, the Indian government's desire for cleaner steel production as part of the " National Steel Policy" and various decarbonization policies with varying degrees of federal compliance can only enhance the potential for increased DRI production and consumption as Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) steel production moves towards the known EAF consumption market.
Indonesia Direct Reduced Iron Market
Indonesia is addressing a growing DRI potential along with a growing steel industry and supportive manufacturing foreign investment. Taking advantage of its own extensive natural gas reserves and nickel feedstock, the country is developing new DRI-EAF plants with previous and anticipated announcements, designed to contribute to national and domestic initiatives for established infrastructure and export objectives for the steel sector.
What’s Fueling Growth of North America Direct Reduced Iron Market?
There is a large level of innovation and development regarding gas-DRI and hydrogen-DRI happening in North America, especially with direct connections of plant projects with sustainable and carbon-reducing environmental goals in the realm of actual manufacturing.
United States Direct Reduced Iron Market
The advancements and enthusiasm around DRI are being compounded by demand and availability in the marketplace. The DRI market growth has been led by the United States due to trends such as the large uptake of EAFs and vertical models that now use hot-briquetted iron (HBI) as a means to lessen the carbon footprint of steel outputs. Domestic companies such as Cleveland-Cliffs and Nucor have backed DRI plant developments using natural gas, through both financing and investment, and importantly, both organizations have committed resources to investigating green hydrogen technologies.
Canada Direct Reduced Iron Market
Canada is close behind in its level of investment in low-emission steel production and hydrogen-DRI, and has a parallel set of favourable government incentives and key support for extending energy infrastructure that can help it become a future producer of green steel.
Why Are European Countries Still the Epicenter of the Direct Reduced Iron Market?
Europe's marketplace is still developing, and Europe is leading the way in decarbonized steelmaking using DRI as the crucial technology for a shift towards climate-neutral industrialization.
Germany Direct Reduced Iron Market
Germany has the most innovation to date, with ArcelorMittal publicly promising commercial-scale hydrogen DRI projects. Germany has strong policies in placing renewable power generation in line with iron and steel making, which can provide a sustainable metallurgy pathway.
Sweden Direct Reduced Iron Market
Sweden is the world leader in fossil-free DRI, mainly due to its large-scale HYBRIT partnership with SSAB, LKAB, and Vattenfall. Sweden will likely become a major exporter of green steel before the end of this decade.
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Direct Reduced Iron Market Drivers
Shift Toward Low-Carbon Steel Production
Growing Demand from Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) Operators
Direct Reduced Iron Market Restraints
High Dependence on Natural Gas and Hydrogen Availability
Capital-Intensive Infrastructure and Retrofitting Costs
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The direct reduced iron market is consistently influenced by both legacy steel producers and emergent companies built on technology. Each of the significant players in the DRI market is emphasizing efficiency, hydrogen-based reduction, and automatic operations as technologies change to stay competitive. Emerging companies are designing new plants in unique ways, utilizing flexible processes, and producing low-carbon DRI. Competitive differentiation based solely on technology or costs is no longer sufficient. Now, competitive differentiation is based on feedstock-centric, emissions-intensity, modulated-condition, and electric-arc-furnace integration. A great deal of partnerships are evolving as DRI startups find alignment with legacy steel producers in shaping the regional supply chain to build localized decarbonized supply chains and transition toward green steel.
GreenForge Materials (2024): Based in Germany and founded in early 2024, GreenForge Materials is a cleantech start-up developing modular hydrogen-based DRI units to be used by mid-cap steel producers. Their key innovation is "ForgeH2," a plug-and-play DRI module that consumes green hydrogen and results in 90% less CO₂ emissions than traditional DRI methods. The company is focusing on steel mills in Europe and North Africa, where decarbonization mandates and hydrogen infrastructure are advancing rapidly. With backing from EU green tech incubators and early-stage industrial investors, GreenForge plans to rapidly scale production by licensing its compact reactor technology to legacy steel plants that are being modernized.
NeoIron Technologies (2025): Founded in the U.S. in 2025, NeoIron Technologies is a startup focused on optimizing digital technologies in gas-based DRI operations. The startup's key offerings have been predictive process analytics, emissions monitoring, and energy efficiency modelling for mid- and large-scale DRI facilities. Its proprietary software, called "NeoSync", is designed to work with existing plant control systems that help reduce energy waste while improving metallization rates. NeoIron has previously worked with U.S. mini-mills and received its first Series A funding from venture groups specializing in industrial AI. Its early traction in the market is being supported by rising customer interest in operational intelligence for green steel production.
Top Player’s Company Profile
Recent Developments in Direct Reduced Iron Market
SkyQuest’s ABIRAW (Advanced Business Intelligence, Research & Analysis Wing) is our Business Information Services team that collects, Collates, Correlates, and analyses the Data collected by means of Primary Exploratory Research backed by robust Secondary Desk research.
As per SkyQuest analysis, the global direct reduced iron market is witnessing significant growth, fueled by the steel industry's push for low-carbon, energy-efficient alternatives to traditional blast furnace practices. Specifically, DRI is increasingly used in electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking applications, and gas and hydrogen-based DRI is quickly being accepted as steelmaking dominant method, with basic oxygen furnace (BOF) integration rapidly expanding. Construction is the largest end-use segment, and the automotive sector is growing rapidly as it shifts towards green steel markets. Major segments include and/or are characterized by operational and technological innovation as well as expansion by capacity-openers, with major emerging markets including India, Indonesia, the U.S., Canada, Germany, and Sweden. The competitive landscape is evolving as startups such as GreenForge and NeoIron appear next to (i.e., are on the same level of analysis as) established players, including MIDREX, Tenova, and Tata Steel. Major trends include the emergence of hydrogen-based DRI technologies, improved utilization of GHG emissions from natural gas to support DRI production more sustainably without carbon capture and storage (CCS), and hybrid forms of steelmaking process integration. While capital costs will remain high and the energy required for operations will be a factor, the DRI market is positioned to embrace long-term changes that coincide with global decarbonization targets.
Report Metric | Details |
---|---|
Market size value in 2023 | USD 52.27 billion |
Market size value in 2032 | USD 115.41 billion |
Growth Rate | 9.2% |
Base year | 2024 |
Forecast period | (2025-2032) |
Forecast Unit (Value) | USD Billion |
Segments covered |
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Regions covered | North America (US, Canada), Europe (Germany, France, United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Rest of Europe), Asia Pacific (China, India, Japan, Rest of Asia-Pacific), Latin America (Brazil, Rest of Latin America), Middle East & Africa (South Africa, GCC Countries, Rest of MEA) |
Companies covered |
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Table Of Content
Executive Summary
Market overview
Parent Market Analysis
Market overview
Market size
KEY MARKET INSIGHTS
COVID IMPACT
MARKET DYNAMICS & OUTLOOK
Market Size by Region
KEY COMPANY PROFILES
Methodology
For the Direct Reduced Iron Market, our research methodology involved a mixture of primary and secondary data sources. Key steps involved in the research process are listed below:
1. Information Procurement: This stage involved the procurement of Market data or related information via primary and secondary sources. The various secondary sources used included various company websites, annual reports, trade databases, and paid databases such as Hoover's, Bloomberg Business, Factiva, and Avention. Our team did 45 primary interactions Globally which included several stakeholders such as manufacturers, customers, key opinion leaders, etc. Overall, information procurement was one of the most extensive stages in our research process.
2. Information Analysis: This step involved triangulation of data through bottom-up and top-down approaches to estimate and validate the total size and future estimate of the Direct Reduced Iron Market.
3. Report Formulation: The final step entailed the placement of data points in appropriate Market spaces in an attempt to deduce viable conclusions.
4. Validation & Publishing: Validation is the most important step in the process. Validation & re-validation via an intricately designed process helped us finalize data points to be used for final calculations. The final Market estimates and forecasts were then aligned and sent to our panel of industry experts for validation of data. Once the validation was done the report was sent to our Quality Assurance team to ensure adherence to style guides, consistency & design.
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