To establish a method by which a high purity molten reduced iron can be produced with good productivity by efficiently progressing the reduction to obtain a semi-reduced material and efficiently progressing the further reduction and melting in a short time in the state of keeping the temperature of the semi-reduced material when the metallic iron is produced by reducing formed raw material containing carbonaceous reducing agent and iron oxide-containing material.

Formed raw material containing carbonaceous reducing agent and iron oxide-containing material, is charged into a traveling hearth type reduction furnace, and the outer shell composed of metallic iron is formed or the state, in which the metallic iron is set up as a network and the carbonaceous reducing agent is left in the gaps of the network, is formed by reducing the above formed raw material to 30-80% reducing ratio in the reduction furnace. Further, the produced slag containing FeO in the inner part is coagulated and the reduced formed material is charged into a melting furnace in the state of keeping the high temperature and the final reduction and melting are performed to obtain the objective molten metallic iron.