To hardly drop the material to be heated consisting of agglomerated material such as pellet or briquette from a hearth and to improve the heating capacity to the material at the edge part in the width direction of a furnace hearth in a movable hearth furnace, such as rotary hearth furnace used in the case of reducing metallic oxide such as iron ore.

Projecting parts are arranged at both edge parts in the width direction of the furnace hearth and the interval between the projecting parts and the furnace hearth surface, is connected with a smooth curving surface. In the furnace body at the downstream side of a charging hole, a rectifier forming the shape along the cross sectional curving line in the width direction on the furnace hearth surface at the lower part is desirable to fix with a gap with the furnace hearth surface and a line connecting the tip part of blade of a screw feeder with the axial direction, is desirable to concide with the cross sectional curving line in the width direction on the furnace hearth surface. Thus, the equipment cost is restrained and the productivity is improved and the yield of product is improved and the product having good quality is stably obtained and the energy efficiency is improved.