TEHRAN, Iran, October 10. Iran’s steel production has increased by 15 percent however it’s unlikely to reach the target plan, a member of Iran's steel producers association Reza Shahrestani told Trend.
"Iran’s steel producers targeted to produce 38 million tons of steel products in the current Iranian year (started March 21,2022) but the figure is not expected to be achieved due to power and gas outages," he noted.
The target for steel production was 34 million tons last Iranian year (started March 21,2021) but 27 million tons were produced, he said, adding that the production had a 15 percent increase and is predicted to grow to 30 million tons by the end of the current year.
He pointed out that the power and gas outages alongside with mismanagement, have reduced steel production in the country.
"One of the management mistakes was obliging steel producers to offer products for sale at Iran Mercantile Exchange," he indicated. "Another mismanagement was heavy tariffs set on the export of steel products that led to the loss of market for steel producers."
He underlined that the export tariff has recently been lifted but the early tariffs at the start of the current year have caused producers to lose their market to Russia.