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Iranian minister: Iran ranks tenth in crude steel production

Business Materials 23 January 2019 09:18 (UTC +04:00)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 23

By Elnur Baghishov – Trend:

Iran has managed to surpass countries like France and Italy in steel production, said Reza Rahmani, Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade of Iran, Trend reports via SHATA.

Currently Iran ranks tenth in crude steel production, he said.

Bringing up the World Steel Association statistics on the production of 1.68 million tons of crude steel per year, the Iranian Minister said that Iran has produced 22 million tons of crude steel in 2017. This led to a 22 percent increase, compared to 2016, while the steel growth in the world stood at 6 percent.

"Iran produced 16.6 million tons of crude steel during the eight months of the current year (starting from March 21, 2018). This, in turn, demonstrated an 18-percent increase in comparison with the figures from last year,” he said.

“Iran produces 62 percent of steel in the Middle East. According to the statistics, Iran managed to surpass countries like France and Italy during the last 6 years,” said the minister.

The minister further compared the steel production in Iran during the early period of the Islamic Revolution and in recent years.

“During the early years of the revolution, the Iranian steel production stood at 2.4 million tons, whereas during the early period of the 11th government’s term (since 2013) it was 123 million tons. Currently this number has reached 205 million tons. With the commissioning of new projects, steel production is set to reach 220 million tons during the final months of the year,” he said.

“During the last five years, concentrate production has increased from 28 million tons to 52 million tons, pellet from 21 million tons to 46 million tons, sponge iron from 19 million tons to 31 million tons, and steel ingot from 24 million tons to 34 million tons,” he said.

The minister also said that steel production saw an improvement from within in recent years. All aspects are accounted for when it comes to investments in steel production. It is because of this that crude steel sales have dropped during the last five years.

It was stated that the production of 55 million tons of crude steel is set as a goal in the prospective document for 2025, and that all the programs of the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade are aimed at meeting this goal. Accordingly, Iran’s export should increase to a minimum of 15 million tons. Around 8 million euros’ worth of investments are required for this purpose.

Rahmani mentioned that iron ore production increased from 63 million tons to 85 million tons.

“Recently, fruitful expeditions have been carried out in iron ore mines. As such, Iran’s iron ore reserves have doubled,” he said.

The minister added that, as far as non-ferrous metal production is concerned, Iran ranks 15th in copper production and 18th in aluminum production.

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