Exports of different forms of steel declined in the financial year 2022-23 (ended March 20), latest data released by the Iranian Steel Producers Association show.
A total of 7.37 million tons of semi-finished steel products were exported, which register a 4% decline compared with the previous year.
Billet and bloom had the lion’s share of semis exports with an aggregate of 5.32 million tons, up 4% compared with the year before.
Slab exports stood at 2.04 million tons, down 21%.
Exports of finished steel products declined by 6% during the same period to 3.19 million tons.
Rebar accounted for the biggest share of finished steel exports from Iran during the period with 2.42 million tons. The total volume of Iran’s rebar exports experienced a 3% decrease compared with the fiscal 2021-22.
Beam shipments weighed 136,000 tons during the period under review, down 6%.
About 174,000 tons of L-beam, T-beam and other types were also exported from Iran during the period, down 13%.
Hot-rolled coil exports hit 357,000 tons, registering an 18% decline while that of cold-rolled coil with 21,000 tons registered a 24% rise and that of coated coil with 83,000 tons saw a 28% fall.
Iran exported 864,000 tons of direct-reduced iron during the year, down 18%.
Significant Rise in Imports of Finished Products
Finished steel imports stood at 1 million tons during the period, registering a 29% rise.
The imports mostly included HRC with 330,000 tons, up 136%; CRC with 245,000 tons, down 7% compared with the year before; coated coil with 201,000, down 10%; beam with 16,000 tons, down 6% ; L-beam, T-beam and other types with 41,000 tons, up 8% and rebar with 121,000 tons, up 278%.
A total of 6,000 tons of semi-finished steel products were imported during the same period, marking no change. The imports included billet and bloom with 6,000 tons, up 200% and slab with 3 kilograms (0.003 tons), down 99.9%.
Iran did not have any DRI imports in the fiscal 2022-23.
Rise in Production
Iranian steelmakers’ production volume registered growth in the last Iranian year (ended March 20) compared with the year before.
They produced a total of 30.43 million tons of semi-finished products during the period, 9% more than in the previous year.
Production of billet and bloom stood at 18.74 million tons, registering a 12% rise. Slab output stood at 11.69 million tons to mark a 4% rise.
The output of finished steel increased by 10% to 21.59 million tons.
Long steel products grabbed the highest share of finished steel output with 12.53 million tons, registering a 12% increase.
Production of rebar stood at 10.39 million tons (up 14%), beams hit 1.29 million tons (up 6%) and L-beam, T-beam and other types of beams amounted to 851,000 tons (up 2%).
Flat steel production reached 9.06 million tons (up 8%) while hot-rolled coil output had the biggest share of flat steel production with 8.73 million tons, marking a 5% rise. It was followed by cold-rolled coil with 2.41 million tons (down 7%) and coated coil with 1.49 tons (down 1%).
The output of direct-reduced iron stood at 31.73 million tons during the period, up 5%.
DRI, also known as sponge iron, is produced from direct reduction of iron ore in the form of lumps, pellets or fines by a reducing gas. It can be processed to create wrought iron.
Iran and India are the world’s biggest producers of DRI, also known as sponge iron.
A total of 47.06 million tons of iron ore concentrate were produced during the period under review, registering a 7% decrease compared with the year before, according to the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization.
The pellet output of major steel mills reached 47.84 million tons last year, posting a decline of 6% compared with the year before.
The production of direct reduced iron stood at 29.51 million tons, up 5%.
Major Producer in the World
According to the World Steel Association, Iran registered the biggest growth in crude steel production in 2022 among the top 10 producers of the world.
Iranian steel mills produced a total of 30.6 million tons of crude steel in 2022, registering an 8% rise compared with 2021.
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 with 1.01 billion tons, down 2.1%. It was followed by India with 124.7 million tons (up 5.5%), Japan with 89.2 million tons (down 7.4%), the United States with 80.7 million tons (down 5.9%), Russia with 71.5 million tons (down 7.2%), South Korea with 65.9 million tons (down 6.5%), Germany with 36.8 million tons (down 8.4%) and Turkey with 35.1 million tons (down 12.9%).
Iran was placed after Brazil (ninth) with 34 million tons (down 5.8%).
The world’s 64 steelmakers produced 1.83 billion tons of crude steel last year, down 4.3%. Countries located in Asia and Oceania collectively produced 1.35 billion tons of the total.
The Middle East produced 44 million tons of crude steel during the period, registering an increase of 7.1%.
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. 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%.
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.
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.
