Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18
By Khalid Kazimov - Trend:
An Iranian steel producer has warned against excessive amount of steel imports.
Mahmoud Akbari, chief sales and marketing officer of Esfahan Mobarakeh Steel Company has said that importing steel from foreign countries poses serious threat to the industry in Iran, Mehr news agency reported.
Akbari said that due to economic recession the consumption of flat steel products in the country currently stands at 8.5 million tons which was 11.5 million tons in 2010.
According to him in a period of one year between March 2015 and 2016 Iran's import of steel products surpassed 3.7 million tones indicating 32 percent growth compared to the same period last year.
Over the mentioned period Iran exported $1.09 billion worth of steel and iron products.
Iran's output this March stood at 1.455 million tons, a 10.6 percent decline from March 2015's 1.315 million tons. During the 1Q16, Iran produced 4.181 million tons of steel.
World crude steel production for the 66 countries reporting to the World Steel Association was 137 million tons in March 2016, indicating a 0.5% decrease compared to March 2015.