Iranian steelmakers exported more than 2 million tons of steel products during the first four months of the current Iranian year (March 20-July 20), posting a whopping 77% increase compared to last year's corresponding period, Amir Sabagh, with the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization, has announced.
The largest steel producer, the state-owned Mobarakeh Steel Company, topped the list of exporters, as it sold close to 800,000 tons of steel products including hot and cold-rolled sheets, hot, cold, galvanized and acid-pickled steel coils (skein), tin-plated sheets and slabs. MSC recorded a 103% rise in its 4-month export volume compared to the same period last year.
Khuzestan Steel Company, Iran's largest producer of semi-finished casting products came in second by exporting 625,000 tons of blooms, slabs and billets. The company registered a 38% jump in its overseas sales. KSC has set an export target of 1.3 million tons of semis this year.
With more than 365,000 tons of slab exports, showing about a 20-fold increase, Hormozgan Steel Company was ranked third.
Esfahan Steel Company, Khorasan Steel Company, Iran Alloy Steel Company and Khuzestan Oxin Steel Company were next in the line with exports of 214,000, 34,000, 24,250 and 6,500 tons respectively.
Steel product exports in the fourth Iranian month of Tir (June 21-July 21) stood at 521,444 tons, indicating an 86% increase. Mobarakeh wins the top spot again with 233,000 tons, followed by KSC with 138,000 tons; HOSCO with 110,000 tons; ESCO with 21,600 tons; Khorasan Steel with 16,540 tons; Oxin Steel with 2,816 tons and IASCO with 956 tons. HOSCO recorded the highest increase in exports volume in Tir as its sales increased more than 82 times compared to the previous year.
Iranian steelmakers set a record last year (March 2015-16) by exporting more than 4.1 million tons of steel products valued at about $7 billion. Crude exports stood at 1.8 million tons. The four-month figures suggest that a new record is set to be established before the year is out next March.
According to Jafar Sargheyni, deputy minister of industries, mining and trade, Iranian companies are expected to export 6 million tons of steel by the end of the current Iranian year (March 2017).
Iran is currently the world's 13th largest steelmaker with an annual output of 16 million tons.
Domestic crude steel production capacity presently stands at about half the ambitious target of 55 million tons per year as per the 20-Year National Vision Plan (2005-25), IMIDRO says. The vision plan sees Iran becoming the world's 6th largest steelmaker by 2025.
Studies conducted by Foolad Technic International Engineering Company show the vision plan calls for exporting 21 million tons of the projected production with domestic demand put at 34 million tons by 2025.
