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Iran’s leading steel company works at 40 percent of capacity

Business Materials 12 September 2014 17:41 (UTC +04:00)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 12

By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
An Iranian MP has announced that the country's major steel company works only with 40 percent of its capacity due to water shortage.

Seyed Nasser Mousavi Largani, a member of the parliament's Economic Commission said that the Mobarakeh Steel Company faces stagnation due to sever water shortage, Iran's parliament news agency ICANA reported Sept. 12.

Mobarakeh Steel Company, located in central province of Esfahan and reportedly produces over 50 percent of Iran's steel.

Many of the steel manufacturing plants in Iran have faced serious challenges due to a nationwide water crisis. The recent running dry of the Zayanderud River in the city of Esfahan has caused serious concerns regarding the activity of the Mobarakeh and Esfahan steel companies, which together used to consume 7 percent of the river's water.

Mehdi Karbasian, the Iranian deputy industry, mining, and trade minister has announced that new steel plants of up to 10 million metric tons capacity will be established near the Gulf and Sea of Oman.

Since steel plants need large amounts of water to operate, the new steel plants will be established near the seas, he explained. He added that the government has made the decision in the wake of the water crisis in the country.

More than 128 cubic meters of water is required to produce one metric ton of steel, and based on the country's target to annually produce 55 million tons of steel by the end of the Fifth Five-Year Economic Development Plan (March 2016), more than 7 billion cubic meters of water will be needed by 2016.

Iran is located in an arid zone and the country faces a serious water shortage crisis.

Earlier Iranian media outlets quoted energy minister, Hamid Reza Chitchian as saying that the situation of water resources in Iran has passed beyond the critical condition.

Iran's total annual water consumption is approximately 93 billion cubic meters, out of which about 92 percent is used in agriculture (86 billion cubic meters), 6.6 percent in municipality (6.18 billion cubic meters), and 1.2 percent in industry (1.12 billion cubic meters), according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization(FAO).

Up to 70 percent of water used in the agriculture sector is being wasted, Iranian officials say.

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