Data released by the Iranian Steel Producers Association show Iranian steelmakers registered a 14% rise in the production of both semi-finished and finished steel products.
According to the report, they produced a total of 21.13 million tons of semis during the first eight months of the current Iranian year (March 21-Nov. 21), 14% more than in the corresponding period of last year.
The production of billet and bloom reached 12.83 million tons, registering a 17% rise while that of slab stood at 8.3 million tons to mark a 10% rise.
The output of finished steel increased by 14% to 14.74 million tons during the period.
Long steel products grabbed the highest share of finished steel output with 8.65 million tons, registering a 17% increase year-on-year.
Production of rebar stood at 7.25 million tons (up 20%), beams hit 808,000 tons (up 2%) and L-beam, T-beam and other types of beams amounted to 581,000 tons (up 7%).
Flat steel production reached 6.08 million tons (up 10%) while hot-rolled coil output had the biggest share of flat steel production with 5.87 million tons, marking an 8% rise. It was followed by cold-rolled coil with 1.43 million tons (down 1%) and coated coil with 1.62 tons (down 3%).
The output of direct-reduced iron stood at 24.15 million tons during the period, up 20%.
Iran and India are the world’s biggest producers of DRI, also known as sponge iron.
Exports at $3.7b: IMIDRO
A total of 6.74 million tons of different forms of steel worth $3.7 billion were exported from Iran during the eight months, the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization reported earlier.
It added that exports during the eighth month of the year (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) stood at 1.14 million tons worth $568 million.
“This is the second consecutive month that monthly steel exports exceed 1 million tons this year,” IMIDRO wrote on its news portal, adding that the shipments registered a record high during the eighth month of the past years.
According to the World Steel Association, Iran is the word’s 10th biggest steel producer.
The association’s latest available data show Iranian steel mills produced a total of 25.1 million tons of crude steel from the beginning of 2022 to the end of October, registering a 9% rise compared with the corresponding period of 2021.
Iran's October output hit 2.9 million tons, registering a 3.5% year-on-year rise.
In terms of world ranking, Iran maintained its global standing as the world’s 10th biggest crude steelmaker.
China was the world’s largest producer during the 10-month period with 860.6 million tons of steel output, down 2.2%. It was followed by India with 103.8 million tons (up 6.1%), Japan with 75.2 million tons (down 6.5%), the United States with 68.1 million tons (down 4.8%), Russia with 60.4 million tons (down 6.6%), South Korea with 55.7 million tons (down 5%), Germany with 31.4 million tons (down 6.9%) and Turkey with 30.2 million tons (down 5.2%).
Iran is placed after Brazil (ninth) with 28.7 million tons (down 5.2%).
The world’s 64 steelmakers produced 1.55 billion tons of steel during the ten months under review, down 3.9%. Countries located in Asia and Oceania collectively produced 1.14 billion tons of the total.
The Middle East produced 36.4 million tons of crude steel during the period, posting an increase of 7.7% 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.
Worldsteel represents steel producers, national and regional steel industry associations and steel research institutes.
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%.
In 2021, 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 the previous 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.
Mobarakeh Steel Company is the biggest steelmaker in Iran and the Middle East and North Africa region, accounting for about half of the country's steel production.
Fiscal 2021-22 in Review
According to ISPA, the output of semi-finished products stood at 27.9 million tons in the fiscal 2021-22, 8% less compared to the previous year.
Billet and bloom made up 16.66 million tons of total semi-finished production, down 11% year over year. Slab output reached 11.24 million tons to register 2% decline and the output of finished steel decreased by 5% during the same period to 19.64 million tons.
Long steel products had a 11.21-million-ton share in the output of finished steel products, posting a 3% fall.
Rebar production stood at 9.15 million tons (down 4%). It was followed by beams with 1.22 million tons (down 2%) and L-beam, T-beam and other types with 837,000 tons (up 1%).
The production of flat steel with 8.49 million tons registered an 8% decrease.
Hot-rolled coil comprised 8.29 million tons in this category, showing a 6% decline, followed by cold-rolled coil with 2.59 million tons, unchanged, and coated coil with 1.5 million tons, up 2%.
The output of direct-reduced iron stood at 30.33 million tons during the period under review, down 3%.
According to IMIDRO, a total of 11.69 million tons worth $7.41 billion of steel were exported from Iran to 59 countries in the fiscal 2021-22.
China with 3.54 million tons worth $2.02 billion accounted for 30.3% of Iran’s total exports in weight and 27.3% in value to top the list of export destinations.
It was followed by Iraq with 1.9 million tons (16.3%) worth $1.26 billion (17%), Indonesia with 1.7 million tons (14.5%) worth $1.09 billion (14.8%), Thailand with 1.17 million tons (10%) worth $750.12 million (10.1%), the UAE with 724,170 tons (6.2%) worth $544.35 million (7.3%).
ISPA’s database shows 7.68 million tons of semi-finished steel products were exported from Iran last year, up 25% compared with the previous year.
Billet and bloom had the lion’s share of semis exports with an aggregate of 5.1 million tons, up 12% compared with the previous year’s corresponding period.
Slab exports amounted to 2.58 million tons during the period, up 62% year-on-year.
Exports of finished steel products grew by 20% to 3.4 million tons during the period.
Rebar accounted for the largest portion of finished steel products exported from Iran during the period, with 2.5 million tons. The total volume of Iran’s rebar exports experienced a 36% growth compared with the same period of last year.
Beam exports amounted to 145,000 tons during the period under review, down 15%.
About 200,000 tons of L-beam, T-beam and other types were also exported from Iran during the period, up 6%.
Hot-rolled coil exports amounted to 433,000 tons, registering a 20% decline compared with the year before.
Cold-rolled coil with 17,000 tons registered a 35% decline year-on-year and coated coil with 115,000 tons, up 46% YOY, was the other finished steel product exported from Iran.
Exports of direct-reduced iron increased by 25% YOY to 1.06 million tons, ISPA figures show.
