Iran's apparent steel usage registered growth for finished and a decline for semi-finished steel products in the first month of the current fiscal year (March 21-April 20) compared with last year's corresponding period.
The apparent usage totaled 1.68 million tons for finished products, posting a 9% year-on-year increase, the Iranian Steel Producers Association reported.
Apparent steel usage is defined as production plus imports minus exports, sometimes also adjusted for changes in inventories.
Flat steel products accounted for the largest portion of finished steel consumption with 860,000 tons of finished steel apparent usage, up 6% YOY.
Among flat steel products, hot-rolled coil had the biggest share of apparent usage with 851,000 tons (up 8% YOY), followed by cold-rolled coil with 214,000 tons (down 3% YOY) and coated coil with 101,000 tons (down 10% compared with the same period of last year).
Long steel products accounted for 809,000 tons, up 14% YOY.
Rebar grabbed the biggest share in this section with 633,000 tons, up 13% YOY, followed by beams with 109,000 tons (up 18% YOY) and L-beam, T-beam and other types with 67,000 tons (up 18% compared with the same period of last fiscal year).
The apparent usage stood at 2.26 million tons for semi-finished products, registering a 8% decline compared with last year's corresponding period.
The use of slab also increased by 6% to 1.17 million tons during the period. The apparent usage of billet and bloom amounted to 1.09 million tons, down 19% compared with the same period of last year.
DRI usage stood at 3.24 million tons during the period under review, up 5% YOY.
According to the World Steel Association, Iranian steel mills produced a total of 28.5 million tons of crude steel in 2021, registering a 1.8% decline compared with 2020.
Despite the decline in output, Iran maintained its global status as the world’s 10th biggest crude steelmaker.
China was the world’s largest producer in the 12-month period with 1.03 billion tons of steel output, down 3% YOY.
It was followed by India with 118.1 million tons (up 17.8%), Japan with 96.3 million tons (up 14.9%), the United States with 86 million tons (up 18.3%), Russia with 76 million tons (up 6.1%), South Korea with 70.6 million tons (up 5.2%), Turkey with 40.4 million tons (up 12.7%) and Germany with 40.1 million tons (up 12.3%).
Iran was placed after Brazil (ninth) with 36 million tons (up 14.7% YOY).
The world’s 64 steelmakers produced 1.91 billion tons of steel in the year under review, up 3.6% YOY.
The Middle East produced 41.2 million tons of crude steel in the period, posting an increase of 1.2% compared with the same period of last year.
Crude steel is defined as steel in its first solid (or usable) form: ingots and semi-finished products (billets, blooms and slabs). This is not to be confused with liquid steel, which is steel poured.
