The Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration has issued a directive based on which no more steel ingots and rebars will be imported with the official exchange rate, Fooladnews reported Wednesday. Previously, companies and individuals could import as much steel ingots and iron bars as they wanted using the official foreign currency exchange rate. On Wednesday, US dollar traded at 26,701 rials for the official rate versus the market rate of 32,400 rials. Back in August, deputy industry minister Jafar Sarqini announced that the government had halted the allocation of hard currencies based on the official exchange rate for the importation of most steel products. The move is seen as a new measure aimed at protecting domestic steel producers.
