To provide a porous refractory material which has high corrosion resistance and is excellent in air permeability and metal infiltration resistance and suitable to be used in a porous plug; and a method for producing the porous refractory material.

The porous plug for blowing gas into molten steel by ventilating it through pores is produced by the production method in which 40-95 wt.% of spherical alumina (a) having particle sizes of 0.5-0.1 mm, 3-20 wt.% of a zirconia-containing raw material (b), 0.5-3 wt.% externally of frit (c), 1-10 wt.% externary of a binder (d), and 1-10 wt.% externary of a burned-down raw material (e) having a mean particle size of 10-30 μm which is burned down by firing are mixed, and the mixture is fired at 1,700°C or higher.