Iran’s two major coal producing companies extracted 680,420 tons of the mineral and produced 222,895 tons of coal concentrate during the five months to August 21, which indicates 56% and 38% growth in extraction and production compared to last year’s corresponding period, Minews reported. Tabas Parvadeh Coal Company accounted for 602,299 tons of the extraction and 177,816 tons of the concentrate output. Central Alborz Coal Company extracted 78,121 tons and produced 45,079 tons of concentrate. The 20-Year National Vision Plan stipulates production of 55 million tons of crude steel per year, which means blast furnace steel production capacity needs to increase to six million tons from the current 3.5 million. This requires annual production of 3.2 million tons of coking coal and 4.5 million tons of coal concentrate. Stressing the need for development of the coal industry, experts say Iran’s coal concentrate output currently falls short of the target by more than three million tons.
