Iran’s “mining and mineral” industries exported a total of 21.98 million tons of products worth $5.08 billion in the first five months of the current fiscal year (March 21-August 22) to register an 11% and 126% year-on-year growth in weight and value respectively, according to a news report released by the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization.
Steel and steel-related products topped the list of exports in terms of value with an aggregate of $3.09 billion, followed by copper and downstream products with $621.6 million and aluminum and related products with $244.18 million.
Exports of “pottery, bricks, ceramic and tile” group saw the biggest jump in terms of value (373% YOY) to reach $12.85 million, followed by iron ore concentrate with $57.38 (up 348% YOY).
The IMIDRO report also shows steel imports stood at 1.42 million tons worth $245.65 million during the same period to register a 7% decline in weight but a 6% growth in value compared with the same period of the year before.
Steel and steel-related products also topped the list of imports in terms of value with $465.64 million, followed by ferromanganese with $108.67 million and coal and coke with $101.07 million.
The value of lead and related products’ imports saw the biggest jump (302% YOY) to reach $1.1 million.
Iran’s mineral reserves exceed 60 billion tons, more than half of which is proven. The country is home to 68 types of minerals.
According to the United States Geological Survey, Iran holds the world's largest zinc, ninth largest copper, 10th largest iron ore, fifth largest gypsum and barite, and 10th largest uranium reserves.
Overall, Iran is home to more than 7% of global mineral reserves.
Fiscal 2020-21 in Review
Iran’s export of mineral products stood at 55 million tons worth $7.6 billion in the last fiscal year (ended March 2021) to register a 21% and 11% year-on-year decline in total volume and value respectively.
According to IMIDRO, steel topped the list of exports in terms of value with $4.1 billion and was followed by copper with $958 million and cement with $758 million.
In terms of tonnage, cement had the largest share with 24.3 million tons, followed by steel with 9.69 million tons.
Alumina powder exports saw the biggest jump in terms of value (335% YOY) to reach $1.8 million, followed by aluminum products with $321 million (up 177% YOY).
Imports stood at 4.15 million tons worth $3.4 billion in the fiscal 2020-21, indicating a 13% increase in tonnage and a 6% growth in value compared with the year before.
Steel also topped the list of mineral imports in terms of value with $1.3 billion, followed by coal and coke with $300 million. Aluminum products with $290 million came next.
The value of steel products imports saw the biggest jump (39% YOY) to $1.37 million.
Sales Record
According to IMIDRO, the aggregate sales volume of 74 heavyweight Tehran Stock Exchange-listed mining and mineral industries stood at 3.22 quadrillion rials ($11.7 billion) in the last Iranian year to register a 105% rise compared to the year before.
Mobarakeh Steel Company registered the highest sales volume among the firms during the period with 774.6 trillion rials ($2.81 billion), up 98% year-on-year.
MSC is the biggest steelmaker in Iran and the Middle East and North Africa region, accounting for about half of the country's steel production.
MSC was followed by the Iranian National Copper Industries Company with 419.4 trillion rials ($1.52 billion) of sales during the year, up by 87% YOY.
NICICO is a leading copper producer in the Middle East and North Africa region and its mines hold close to 14% of Asia’s copper deposits and about 3% of global reserves.
Khuzestan Steel Company came third, as its sales totaled 306.4 trillion rials ($1.11 billion), up 93% YOY.
The steelmaker, located in the southwestern Khuzestan Province, is the biggest exporter of steel in Iran.
Global Steel Status
Iran is the world’s 10th biggest steelmaker.
According to the latest report released by the World Steel Association, Iranian steel mills produced 17.8 million tons of crude steel in the first seven months of 2021, which indicate a 9.9% rise compared with the corresponding period of 2020.
Iran's July output amounted to 2.6 million tons, up 9% year-on-year.
China was the world’s largest crude steel producer in the seven-month period with 649.3 million tons of steel output, up 8% YOY.
It was followed by India with 68 million tons (up 28.7%), Japan with 56.1 million tons (up 16.2%), the United States with 49.5 million tons (up 18.5%), Russia with 44.9 million tons (up 9.2%), South Korea with 41.3 million tons (up 8.7%), Germany with 23.6 million tons (up 18.9%) and Turkey with 22.9 million tons (up 17.7%).
Iran is placed after Brazil (ninth) with 21 million tons, 22% higher than the corresponding period of 2020.
The world’s 64 steelmakers produced 1.17 billion tons of steel over the seven months under review, up 12.4% YOY. States located in Asia and Oceania collectively produced 853 million tons of the total.
The Middle East produced 25.3 million tons of crude steel in the seven months, posting an increase of 10% compared with the same period of last year.
Global steel output also experienced a 3.3% growth in July to 161.7 million tons.
World's major steel producers seem to have recovered their output in 2021, after the global closure of businesses and disruption in industrial operations, as a result of the Covid-19 spread in early 2019.
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.
The World Steel Association is one of the largest and most dynamic industry associations in the world, with members in every major steel-producing country. Worldsteel represents steel producers, national and regional steel industry associations and steel research institutes. Members represent around 85% of global steel production.
The 64 countries included in this table represent 85% of global steel production.
Iranian steel mills produced 29.02 million tons of crude steel in 2020, which indicate a 13.35% rise compared with 2019, the highest growth in output in the list of the world's top 10 producers.
Growth in Output of 10 Mineral Products
The Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade's review of the last Iranian year (March 2020-21) show the output of 10 mineral products (out of 12 under review) saw growth during the period compared to the year before.
A total of 431,600 tons of pure aluminum ingots were produced during the period, up by a 50.3% compared to the previous year.
The production of copper cathodes exceeded 290,800 tons, showing a YOY increase of 14.5%.
Cement production grew by 12.5% over the same period to exceed 69.38 million tons.
The output of steel products reached a total of 25.12 million tons, up 7.4% YOY.
Crude steel production amounted to 28.36 million tons, indicating a 7.3% rise compared with the year before.
Sheet glass production rose by 3.3% YOY to stand over 1.15 million tons.
Tile and ceramic production reached 448.95 square meters over the same period, experiencing a 2.7% YOY increase.
Coal concentrate production saw a 2.5% growth over the 12-month period to reach 1.67 million tons.
Production of glass dishes reached 731,700 tons, registering a YOY increase of 2.1%.
Some 116,900 tons of sanitaryware were produced over the 12 months under review, also indicating a 2.1% rise YOY.
Production of porcelain dishes declined by 2.8% YOY to stand at 56,500 tons and alumina production stood at 229,100 tons, down 1.8% YOY.
