This paper investigated the influence of Cr 2 O 3 addition on the gas-based direct reduction behavior of Hongge vanadium titanomagnetite pellet (HVTMP) with simulated shaft furnace gases. The reduction curves obtained indicated that the Cr 2 O 3 addition revealed different effects on the reduction of HVTMP and the reduction process could be divided into three stages. X-ray diffraction showed that FeCr 2 O 4 was formed by adding Cr 2 O 3 , which was hard to be reduced and had an adverse effect on the metallization degree of final reduced HVTMP. The morphology analysis revealed that the connected metallic iron particles were destroyed and their growth and connection were prevented during the reduction when Cr 2 O 3 was added. With the increase of Cr 2 O 3 addition, the growth of metallic iron whiskers was changed form close cluster to disperse location, and the number of metallic iron whiskers increased, which determined the extent of reduction swelling. In addition, the reduction swelling had relationship with the compressive strength of reduced HVTMP with different Cr 2 O 3 additions. This study will not only establish a relationship between the Cr 2 O 3 addition of HVTMP and its gas-based direct reduction behavior, but also contribute greatly to the effective utilization of HVTM in shaft furnace.