Import of Steel Products Declines

Iran’s import of steel products during the nine months to December 20 declined by 24% to stand at 2.3 million tons.

This is while crude steel imports stood at 179,000 tons, registering a 189% upsurge compared with last year’s corresponding period, according to the Iranian Steel Manufacturers Association.

Hot-rolled coils were the top imported commodity with 1.33 million tons, followed by cold-rolled coils with 485,000 tons, galvanized sheets with 262,000 tons, billets and blooms with 177,000 tons, rebars with 98,000 tons, beams with 36,000 tons and slabs with 2,000 tons.

Rebar and HRC had the highest drops in import volume with 58% and 28% respectively.

In contrast, billet and bloom, and slab imports recorded a 190% and 100% jump. In fact, the two commodities were among Iran’s top steel exports for the nine-month period, growing 47% to 1.69 million tons and 4,068% to 867,000 tons respectively.

Statistics also indicate that Iran’s crude steel consumption for the period stood at 11.44 million tons and recorded no change compared to last year’s corresponding period. Steel product consumption, however, declined 5% to 14.22 million tons.

Iranian steelmakers exported over 4.12 million tons of crude steel and steel products during the same period, registering a 55% growth year-on-year. The companies also shipped 479,854 tons of the industrial material in the Iranian month of Azar (Nov. 21-Dec. 20) to post a 117% hike year-on-year

The domestic steel market continues to grapple with a years-long recession caused by lack of demand in the construction sector. Most steelmakers believe the only way forward in the current condition is by bolstering exports.

Iran is currently the world’s 14th largest steelmaker, as it produced 16.4 million tons of crude steel in the 11 months of 2016, registering an 11% growth Y-O-Y.