Semi-Finished Steel Imports Down 88%

Imports of semi-finished steel dropped by 88% in the first month of the current Iranian year (started March 21) compared with last year’s corresponding period to stand at 29,000 tons, according to Iranian Steel Producers Association. Semis production, on the other hand, was up 15% to 1.73 million tons for the period, including 917,000 tons of slab and 817,000 tons of billet and bloom, up 17% and 13% respectively. Iranian steelmakers exported 439,000 tons of semis, up 28% year-on-year. Billet and bloom shipments made up 261,000 tons of the figure followed by slabs with 178,000 tons, up 27% and 29% respectively.