Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan. 5 / Trend, A.Yusifzade /
Iran's Esfahan Customs has reduced steel exports conducted by Esfahan's Mobarakeh Steel Company (MSC) by 34 percent up to $73.428 million from March to December 2010 compared to the same period of last year, the general manager of Isfahan Customs Office, Forood Asgari, was quoted by BENA as saying.
Asgari said that steel exports conducted by Esfahan Steel Company (Zob Ahan-e Esfahan) have been reduced by 47 percent up to $15.694 million for the above-mentioned period.
MSC is one of the biggest Iranian industrial complexes built on a 35 kilometer plot of land in the town of Mobarakeh, 65 kilometer to the south west from the city of Esfahan.
It had its first electric arc furnace in operation on Sep. 26 1991. The new steel making plant, namely Shahid Kharrazi Project, as well as expansion projects are underway in Compact Strip Process Plant, to increase the production capacity of the company up to 6 million ton in the current Iranian year of 1389 (March 21,2010 - March 20,2011) and 9 million ton in 1390.
Esfahan Steel Company (Zob Ahan-e Esfahan) is the first Iranian steel maker opened in late 1960.
According to the statistics published by the World Steel Association (WSA), Iran is one of the largest steel producers in the Middle East during the first 10 months of 2010.
During this period, steel production in Iran increased by 6.4 percent up to 9.855 million tons.
Last year (2010), the largest steel production in Iran fell to the Mobareke Complex (43 percent), Khuzestan Plant (25 percent), Zorbahan Plant (22 percent), and National Iranian Steel Company (10 percent).
Iran, the largest importer of steel in the Middle East, is moving ahead with plans to expand output capacity to achieve self-sufficiency by 2014 and then boost it fivefold by 2025.
Around $32 billion of investment was needed for the country's long-term goal to reach a steel capacity of 55 million tones from 11 million tones now, an executive from state-owned Esfahan Steel Company told the Metal Bulletin's steel and iron ore conference.