Azerbaijan, Baku, May.4/ Trend R.Zamanov
Iran plans to produce over 16 million tons of steel by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2014), Deputy Industry, Mine and Trade Minister Vajihollah Jafari said on Saturday.
By inauguration of some new steel production units, the country's total output capacity will be increased by over 3 million years, the Mehr News Agency quoted Jafari as saying.
The private sector will implement the mentioned projects, he said.
Jafari put the country's current steel production capacity at 19 million tons per year, noting that once the mentioned projects come on stream, Iran's annual steel production capacity will reach 22.5 million tons.
Iran produced over 17.4 million tons of steel products in the previous calendar year, he explained.
The latest statistics released by the World Steel Association shows that Iran has produced 3.64 million tons of crude steel in the first three months of 2013.
The amount shows a 0.4-percent increase compared to the same period of time previous year.
Iran's crude steel output in March stood at 1.330 million tons, which is 14.3 per cent more than the same period previous year.
The country's production growth in March was more than other major producers of the world including China, India, USA, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Russia, and Ukraine.
Some 388.82 million tons of crude steel was produced across the globe in the first three months of the current year.
The figure shows a 2.3-percent increase compared to the same period of time previous year.