Tehran, Iran, June 3
By Kamyar Eghbalnejad - Trend:
Amir Hossein Kaveh, the head of the Syndicate of Steel Pipe and Profile Manufacturers, said the country plans to move towards producing value-added steel instead of just crude steel.
“Last year, Iran produced almost 9 million tons of crude steel,” Kaveh told Trend news agency on June 3.
The Iranian Industry Ministry has come to the conclusion that exporting crude steel without added-value is equal to selling valuable sources of energy, he added.
Kaveh further said that Iran should not export its crude steel, noting that it ought to strengthen its downstream industries instead and export value-added steel instead of just crude steel.
Elsewhere in the interview, he referred to Iran’s domestic steel market and took a swipe at Iranian steel makers for not supplying enough steel for internal purposes.
“Instead of responding to the demands of the domestic market, they are exporting steel,” Kaveh said.
He also pointed to the government’s recent policies aimed at controlling prices at the foreign exchange market and said, “The private sector needs more help in this regard as 85 percent of the country’s exports are done by this sector”.
Kaveh went on to add that the country’s minor exporters also need the government’s assistance and that the government should not be tough on them.
The head of the Syndicate of Steel Pipe and Profile Manufacturers further referred to Italian steel manufacturer Danieli’s decision to halt work on finding financial coverage for orders it won in Iran worth 1.5 billion euros ($1.8 billion) following the US withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and said, “I do not believe that the withdrawal of this company could affect our steel industry”.
The move by the Italian firm can help Iranian upstream steel companies to improve their capabilities and increase the county’s steel output.
Iranian steelmakers exported more than 4.4 million tons of crude steel and steel products during 10 months to January 19, 2017, registering a 45% growth compared with last year’s corresponding period. Iran’s main export destinations in Europe include Italy, Spain and Belgium.
...