The National Iranian Steel Company has been officially tasked with preparing investment plans for the steel sector.
Mehdi Karbasian, the deputy minister of industries, mines and trade, and head of the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization, says the executive tasks assigned to NISCO are part of IMIDRO’s new policies aimed at empowering the mining sector, IRNA reported.
The new responsibility obliges NISCO, the country’s major state-owned steel company, to formulate investment plans with the aim of improving the steel production chain.
Accordingly, NISCO has been asked to take special care of downstream industries in the steel sector and to help increase production of raw materials for steel production, including iron ore concentrate and iron ore pellet.
Plans to privatize NISCO, having been pursued for some years, were put on hold last year when the Parliament conducted an investigation into the steel industry. Lawmakers concluded that inappropriate policies pursued by the former administration had resulted in poor performance by the steel sector. The former administration had formed the Steel Committee in the Industries Ministry, relieving NISCO of its responsibilities as a major policy setter in the steel industry.
