Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb.16/ Trend F.Milad
Iran's steel output will reach 30 million tons by the end of the Iranian calendar year of 1394 (March 20, 2016), the Managing Director of Isfahan's Steel Company (Zob Ahan) Ardeshir Sa'd Mohammadi said on Saturday.
Tehran plans to raise its steel production up to 55 million tons by 2026, the Mehr News Agency quoted Sa'd Mohammadi as saying.
According to Sa'd Mohammadi, some 1,527 millin tons of crude steel were produced around the world in 2012.
China was the world's greatest crude steel producer (712 million tons). The country's steel consumption accounts for 45 per cent of the world's total steel consumption.
The World Steel Association announced in its latest report that Iran with total production of 14.46 million tons ranked as the world's 15th largest crude steel producer in 2012.
Deputy Director of the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran, Kioumars Fathollah Kermanshahi, said last month that Iran's crude steel production will reach 17.5 million tons in the current Iranian calendar year (which ends March 20).
Iran has produced 14.563 million tons of steel products in the first 10 months of the current Iranian Calendar year, which began March 20, 2012.
The figure shows 2.4 per cent increase in comparison to the same period previous year, the IRIB News Agency reported.
Iran has also produced 12.364 million tons of crude steel in the mentioned period, which is 6.3 per cent more than same time span last year.
Iran's annual crude steel consumption currently stands at 25 million tons, he said.
The deputy industry minister, Reza Fatemi-Amin, said on September 9, 2012 that Iran will no longer need to import steel products next year once the underway steel production projects come on stream.
Fatemi-Amin also said that some 7 million tons of crude steel are imported annually.
The Iranian Industry, Mine, and Trade Minister Mehdi Ghazanfari said in May 2011 that Tehran will become one of the world's main steel exporters by March 2016.
Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization exported over $385 million worth steel in the first nine months of the current Iranian Calendar year, which began on March 20, 2012.
The amount shows 5 per cent rise in comparison to the same time span previous year, the Mehr News Agency reported.
IMIDRO announced in December that four steel projects would come on stream in the first half of the next Iranian calendar year, which begins on March 20.
Once the projects come on stream, some 4 million tons would be added to the country's sponge iron output capacity.
The projects will be completed at the cost of 458 million euros and 10.16 trillion rials (some $828.7 based on the official rate of dollar).