Iranian steel mills produced over 7.5 million tons of crude steel during the first five months of the current Iranian year (started March 20), registering a 5.3% increase compared with last year’s corresponding period, Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization reported on its website.
Iran’s largest steelmaker Mobarakeh Steel Company accounted for 2.2 million of the overall figure, Khuzestan Steel Company for 1.4 million tons, Esfahan Steel Company 1.04 million tons, Hormozgan Steel Company 438,000 tons, Saba Steel Complex 289,000 tons, Khorasan Steel Company 242,000 tons, Iran Alloy Steel Company 154,000 tons and Iran National Steel Industrial Group 22,161 tons.
Moreover, the companies produced more than 6.7 million tons of steel products, including beams, coils, rebars, galvanized auto sheets, cold-rolled sheets and pipes, during the same period, registering a 1.6% drop year-on-year.
Crude steel production registered a 14.5% rise in the fifth Iranian month of Mordad (July 22-Aug. 21), as the eight steel mills produced more than 1.5 million tons. However, steel product manufacture for the month declined 2.7% with the steel plants’ output standing at over 1.3 million tons.
The five-month period also witnessed the export of 2.95 million tons of steel and steel products worth $1.29 billion in total, which indicates a 62% and 17% growth in weight and value respectively.
MSC’s Capacity Expansion Plan
Mobarakeh Steel Company’s Managing Director Bahram Sobhani announced on Sunday that the company plans to add 1.8 million tons to its crude steelmaking capacity in the upcoming Iranian month of Mehr (Sept. 22-Oct. 22), which would bring MSC’s total production capacity to 7.2 million tons, Securities and Exchange News Agency reported.
He also announced plans to boost its subsidiary company, Saba Steel Complex’s crude steel manufacturing capacity from the current 750,000 tons per year to 1.6 million tons by the end of the current Iranian year (March 20, 2017).
According to the official, capacity expansions are meant to help the industry reach the goals set in the 20-Year Vision Plan (2005-25), which stipulates an annual production of 55 million tons of crude steel by 2025.
MSC accounts for about 60% of Iran’s steel sheet deliveries, with its main plant near Isfahan Province plus two steel-producing subsidiaries, Hormozgan and Saba steel complexes located in southern Iran.