Iran’s production of crude steel accounted for 70% of Middle East’s total output during the first five months of 2023, latest data released by the World Steel Association indicate.
Iranian steelmakers produced 13 million tons of crude steel from January to May this year, registering a 2.2% rise compared with the corresponding period of last year.
Steel producers located in the Middle East, including Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, together produced a total of 18.7 million tons of steel during the period, up 1.1% year-on-year.
The world's 63 steelmakers produced 786 million tons of steel during the same period, down 1.2%.
Countries located in Africa, including Egypt, Libya, South Africa and Tunisia, produced 2.6 million tons of steel, up 2.6% compared with the same period of last year.
The steel output of countries in Asia and Oceania, including Australia, China, India, Japan, Mongolia, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Korea, Taiwan (China), Thailand and Vietnam, stood at 588.4 million tons, up 0.7%.
The 27 European Union countries produced a total of 56 million tons, down 10.4%.
The states located in "Europe, Other" region, including Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Turkey and the UK, produced 16.6 million tons of steel, down 16.3% compared with the corresponding period of 2022.
North American countries, including Canada, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico and the US, produced 45.9 million tons of steel during the period, down 3.6%.
Steelmakers in the "Russia and other CIS countries plus Ukraine" region, including Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine produced 36.9 million tons of steel, down 3.8% YOY.
South African countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela, produced 17.1 million tons of steel, down 5.9% YOY.
Worldsteel data also indicate that Iran accounted for 75% of the Middle East's crude steel output in May, as Iranian steel mills produced a total of 3.3 million tons during the month, registering an 8.8% rise compared with the same month of last year.
Steel producers located in the Middle East region produced a total of 4.4 million tons of steel in May, up 4.3%.
The world's 63 steelmakers produced a total of 161.6 million tons of steel, down 5.1% YOY.
Iran’s crude steel output hit 30.6 million tons in 2022 (up 8%) to account for 69.55% of the Middle East steel output that hit 44 million tons (up 7.1).
The 64 countries included in the World Steel report in 2022 produced an aggregate of 1.83 billion tons of steel, registering a 4.3% growth compared with 2021.
World’s 10th Biggest Steelmaker
In terms of world ranking, Iran maintained its global standing during the five months ending May as the world’s 10th biggest crude steelmaker.
China was the world’s largest producer during the five months under review with 444.6 million tons (1.6% rise). It was followed by India with 56.4 million tons (up 5.7%), Japan with 36.5 million tons (down 5.3%), the United States with 26.133.1 million tons (down 3.4%), Russia with 32.1 million tons (up 1.6%), South Korea with 28.1 million tons (down 0.4%), Germany with 15.6 million tons (down 4.7%) and Brazil with 13.4 million tons (down 8.1%).
Iran was placed after Turkey (ninth) with 13 million tons (down 19.1%).
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.
ISPA’s FY 2022-23 Data
According to the Iranian Steel Producers Association, Iranian steelmakers produced a total of 30.43 million tons of semi-finished products in the fiscal 2022-23 (ended March 20), 9% more than in the previous year.
The 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%).
