Montague, former chief executive officer and current board member for DR plant builder Midrex Technologies Inc. said the concept already is being developed at multiple locations in the Middle East. But, he said, the development of such facilities will probably play out over years. 

“No one builds 10 million tons in one go,” he said, speaking during a discussion at the Global Steel Dynamics Forum. Montague added that the industry is likely to see facilities that come into being with one or two direct reduction plants at places with plenty of room to add more.  

“We’ll have two or three types of those locations under way by the end of the decade,” he said. He also said the U.S. Gulf Coast would make an ideal location for one. 

“But I don’t see anybody with an export mindset moving that way,” he said.