Iranian steel mills produced a total of 17.4 million tons of crude steel during the January-July, registering a 3.4% rise compared with the corresponding period of 2021.
A new report released by the World Steel Association shows Iran's July output hit 2 million tons, up by 34.1% year-on-year.
In terms of world ranking, Iran maintained its global standing as the world’s 10th biggest crude steelmaker despite the decline in production.
China was the world’s largest producer during the seven-month period with 609.3 million tons of steel output, down 6.4% YOY. It was followed by India with 73.3 million tons (up 8 %), Japan with 53.3 million tons (down 4.9%), the United States with 48 million tons (down 3%), Russia with 41.4 million tons (down 7%), South Korea with 39.9 million tons (down 3.4%), Germany with 22.5 million tons (down 5.1%) and Turkey with 21.6 million tons (down 6.9%).
Iran is placed after Brazil (ninth) with 20.3 million tons (down 3.5% YOY).
The world’s 64 steelmakers produced 1.1 billion tons of steel in the seven months under review, down 5.4% YOY. Countries located in Asia and Oceania collectively produced 812.6 million tons of the total.
The Middle East produced 25.3 million tons of crude steel during the period, posting an increase of 4.4% 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.
The World Steel Association is one of the largest and most dynamic industrial associations, with members in every major steel-producing country.
Global Steel Status
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 the Worldsteel report produce 85% of global steel. These steelmakers produced 1.91 billion tons of steel last year, up 3.6% YOY.
Countries located in Asia and Oceania collectively produced 1.38 billion tons of the total while the Middle East produced 41.2 million tons of crude steel, posting an increase of 1.2% compared with the same period of last year.
Iranian steel mills produced a total of 28.5 million tons of crude steel in 2021, registering a 1.8% decline compared with 2020.
“The installed capacity of crude steel production in Iran exceeds 40 million tons per year,” Deputy Industries Minister Vajiollah Jafari said last year.
“The annual production of steel ingots has exceeded 30 million tons,” the official was also quoted as saying by IRNA during the 8th Steelprice Conference held in October 2021.
“Installed capacity in the domestic steel industry is about 36 million tons of direct reduced iron, 66.7 million tons of pellets and 62.7 million tons of [iron ore] concentrate, but we are still facing problems in supplying raw materials,” he added.
Jafari noted that the target capacity of 55 million tons of steel ingots is expected to be achieved by the fiscal 2025-26.
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.
Rise in Apparent Steel Usage
The Iranian Steel Producers Association’s latest report shows Iran's apparent steel usage during the first four months of the current fiscal year (March 21-July 22) increased for finished and semi-finished steel products compared with last year's corresponding period.
The apparent usage totaled 6.79 million tons for finished products, posting a 22% year-on-year increase.
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 3.21 million tons of finished steel apparent usage, up 13% YOY.
Among flat steel products, hot-rolled coil had the biggest share of apparent usage with 3.13 million tons (up 17% YOY), followed by cold-rolled coil with 862,000 tons (down 9% YOY) and coated coil with 564,000 tons (up 7% compared with the same period of last year).
Long steel products accounted for 3.47 million tons, up 29% YOY.
Rebar grabbed the biggest share in this section with 2.8 million tons, up 31% YOY, followed by beams with 388,000 tons (up 17% YOY) and L-beam, T-beam and other types with 285,000 tons (up 24% compared with the same period of last fiscal year).
The apparent usage stood at 8.38 million tons for semi-finished products, registering a 19% growth compared with last year's corresponding period.
The use of slab also increased by 16% to 4.74 million tons during the period. The apparent usage of billet and bloom amounted to 3.64 million tons, up 23% compared with the same period of last year.
DRI usage stood at 12.38 million tons during the period under review, up 22% YOY.
