Iron Ore Output Capacity to Rise to 100m Tons/Year

Iran’s crude iron ore production capacity will be raised to 100 million tons/year from 75 million tons/year by the end of the current Iranian year (March 20, 2018), state mines and metal holding company IMIDRO quoted the minister of industries, mining and trade as saying.

Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh was speaking last week at the inauguration of a 5-million-ton/year pellet-making plant that belongs to Mobarakeh Steel Company and is the first such plant at the Sangan iron ore reserve, the biggest Iranian reserve in the northeast, S&P Global PLatts reported.

“The country’s iron ore pellet-making capacity is 31 million tons/year now, but this capacity will be increased to 45 million tons/year [by] the end of the current Iranian year,” he said.

The current capacity for concentrated iron ore of 46.5 million tons was planned to be increased to 55 million tons/year and DRI production capacity was slated to reach 34.5 million tons/year from 30 million tons/year now, he added.

Nematzadeh said 22.5 million tons/year of iron ore concentrates and 17.5 million tons/year of pellets are planned to be produced from the Sangan deposits but, because of water shortage in this area, there is no plan to start steel production.