Domestic steelmakers need to add value to their products and offer them at competitive prices to secure a place in global markets, the chairman of Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization said.
Mehdi Karbasian made the statement during the inauguration of Iran’s first checkered steel sheet production line at Mobarakeh Steel Company near Isfahan on Sunday, Financial Tribune’s sister newspaper Donya-e-Eqtesad reported.
“Steel prices have fallen to $255 per ton and experts forecast this figure to drop even lower to reach close to $240 per ton,” said Karbasian, who is also a deputy minister of industries, mining and trade.
The official noted that China’s dwindling economic growth and reduced steel production and demand point to the tough competition ahead in the race towards finding new steel markets.
“By improving quality, lowering production costs and creating more value added, we can improve our standing in the global markets,” Karbasian said.
“Considering Iran’s three main advantages of cheap energy, huge reserves of iron ore and educated workforce, the steel industry has all it needs to reach the target of 55 million tons of steel production a year as per the 20-Year Vision Plan (2005-25).”
Bahram Sobhani, CEO of Mobarakeh Steel Company, who was also present at the ceremony, said three steel products with value added are currently manufactured by the company, namely cold-rolled sheets used in auto-manufacturing, sheets used in oil and gas pipes and checkered steel sheets.
Sobhani emphasized that MSC’s checkered steel sheets meet the global quality standards of DIN (German Institute for Standardization) and are capable of being presented in international markets.
With a production capacity of 200,000 tons per year, the production line is to manufacture checkered steel sheets with widths of 800 to 1,550 millimeters and thicknesses of 2 to 10 millimeters in the three classes of ST44-2, ST37-2 and ST52-2.
Checkered steel sheets are used in making industrial stairways, bridges, automobiles, wagons, ships and ports.
Mobarakeh Steel Company, located in Isfahan Province, is the largest steel producer in the Middle East and North Africa region and is one of the biggest industrial complexes operating in Iran.
Production Downtrend
Amid the shrinking global demand, Iran’s giant steelmakers have cut back on production, IMIDRO reported on Monday.
According to the report, more than 9.5 million tons of crude steel in the form of cast iron ingots, blooms, slabs and billets were produced during the seven months ending Oct. 22, indicating a 2.8% decline compared to the 9.8 million tons produced during last year’s similar period.
Major producers include Mobarakeh Steel Company, which accounted for more than 3.1 million tons of this figure; Khuzestan Steel Company produced over 2.1 million tons; Isfahan Steel Company 1.3 million tons; Hormozgan Steel Company 685,000 tons; Saba Steel Company 448,000 tons; Khorasan Steel Company 391,000 tons; Iran Alloy Steel Company 169,000 tons and Iran National Steel Industrial Group produced 109,000 tons.
The cutback in production has given way to other steel products, as more than 9.4 million tons of beams, coils, wide sheets, rebars, galvanized auto sheets, hot-rolled sheets and pipes were produced during the period, which indicates a 7.9% drop compared to last year.
The world’s 65 steel producing countries have also followed a downward trend. According to the latest reports by World Steel Association, close to 1.4 billion tons of crude steel were globally produced during January-October, indicating a 2.5% fall compared to last year’s corresponding period.
