TEHRAN, Iran, Sep. 6
Trend:
The Deputy Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade estimated the amount of damage caused by power outages for steel factories at $235 million per week, Trend reports citing Mehr News Agency.
The Deputy Minister of Industry, Saeed Zarandi attended a specialized seminar on the electricity challenges in the steel chain.
He went on to announce an 8 percent growth of the country's industry in 2020.
"Last year was a good year for production, despite all the challenges and problems caused by the sanctions and the COVID-19,” he said.
Stating that the ministry monitors the production of selected industrial and mineral products on a monthly basis, he announced 27 products with production growth and about 30 products with mostly high growth.
Emphasizing the role of the mining industry, especially steel, in overcoming the sanctions, Zarandi stated that approximately 12 percent of the value of the industry is based on steel production units.
Zarandi said that the current capacity of iron ore concentrate in the country is about 57.66 million tons and the target is 80 million tons.
He added that the current capacity of sponge iron is about 35 million tons and the target is 52.7.
“Iran faced a major problem in the last quarter due to lack of electricity supply to production factories, especially in the cement and steel sector,” he added.
He announced the exact amount of damage caused by power outages of steel factories – those under the Imidro subsidiary - was $235 million per week.
“To achieve the goal of 55 million tons of steel production, we have a shortage of at least 5,000 megawatts of electricity,” he announced.
Zarandi asked the Ministry of the industry to follow up with investing in the electricity industry on its agenda.
The industry sector has already announced its readiness to supply 10,000 megawatts of electricity, and the Ministry of Industry’s approach is to use the capacity to supply electricity.
The official went on to add that the Ministry of Industry, Mine, and Trade should help the country's production growth by creating investment opportunities.