International Briquettes Holding, IBH, is in an excellent position to lead the world market for pre-reduced iron-ore. The current 1,215,000 metric-tons-per-year installed capacity of IBH and its affiliates will be increased to 3,415,000 by the year 2000 when the two modules of the Orinoco Iron plant are operating. Additionally, IBH concentrates more than 20 years of experience in iron-ore direct reduction processes -including Fior, Midrex and Finmetâ technologies. IBH's growth through the construction of Orinoco Iron also capitalizes on Venezuela's comparative advantages for the production of briquettes: access to iron-ore, gas and energy at competitive prices as well as the ease of reaching the Atlantic Ocean through the Orinoco river. Virtually all of IBH's sales are in US dollars as are its costs, with the exception of labor and transportation, which accounts for about 8% of the total. The international trend to increasingly use Electric Arch Furnaces in flat product steel making leads to a greater use for raw material with low residual content HBI.