Sponge Iron

Sponge Iron is produced from the direct reduction of iron ore to iron by a reducing gas or elemental carbon produced from natural gas or coal. DRI is most commonly made into steel using electric arc furnaces to take advantage of the heat produced by the DRI product. Direct-reduced iron has about the same iron content as pig iron, typically 90–94% total iron (depending on the quality of the raw ore) so it is an excellent feedstock for the electric furnaces used by mini mills, allowing them to use lower grades of scrap for the rest of the charge or to produce higher grades of steel.