Iranian steelmakers produced 47.93 million tons of semi-finished and finished steel products during the first 11 months of last fiscal year (March 20, 2020-Feb. 18).
According to the Iranian Steel Producers Association’s latest report, semis accounted for 27.72 million tons of the total output, up by 11% YOY.
Billet and bloom made up 17.35 million tons of semi-finished production, as slab output reached 10.36 million tons to register a 13% and 8% YOY rise, respectively.
The output of finished steel increased by 10% YOY to 20.21 million tons.
Long steel products had a 10.66 million-ton share in the output of finished steel products, posting a 15% growth YOY.
Rebar production stood at 8.748 million tons (up 17% YOY). It was followed by beams with 1.163 million tons (up 12% YOY) and L-beam, T-beam and other types with 757,000 tons (up 3% YOY).
The production of flat steel picked up during the 11-month period, increasing by 5% year-on-year to 9.543 million tons.
Hot-rolled coil made up 7.992 million tons of the production in this category, showing a 6% rise compared with the similar period of last year, followed by cold-rolled coil with 2.382 million tons, unchanged compared with the same period of last year, and coated coil with 1.429 million tons (down 9%).
Iran's output of direct reduced iron also grew by 9% to 27.842 million tons, ISPA data show.
MSC Remains Biggest Producers
According to the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization, Mobarakeh Steel Company produced 8.92 million tons of semi-finished steel products during the 11 months under review.
The mill's semi-finished output was 6% higher than the first 11 months of the previous fiscal year.
The company’s output during the 11th month of the current fiscal year (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) increased by 16% to reach 682,433 tons.
MSC and its subsidiary Saba Steel produced 7.34 million tons of finished steel during the period. As a result, the company maintained its position as the largest Iranian steelmaker.
Located in southwestern Isfahan, Mobarakeh Steel Company is the biggest steel producer in Iran and the Middle East and North Africa region.
In terms of semis production, MSC was followed by Khuzestan Steel Company with 3.47 million tons of output during the 11 months. The number indicates a growth of 2% compared with the same period of last year.
KSC’s semi-finished output remained unchanged during the 11th month of the year at 260,591 tons.
Esfahan Steel Company came next with 2.08 million tons of bloom output during the 11 months, marking a decline of 6% year-on-year. The company's monthly output of semis dropped by 30% to 138,456 tons.
South Kaveh Steel Company with 1.25 million tons (up 80% YoY), Chadormalu Steel Company with 927,617 tons (down 1% YOY) and Khorasan Steel Company with 841,506 tons (down 21% YOY) were other main producers of semi-finished steel products during the 11 months to Feb. 18.
South Kaveh Steel Company ranked fourth in terms of monthly semi-output production during the month. The company’s output stood at 157,950 tons during the month under review, up 75%. Chadormalu Steel Company followed with 95,122 tons of semis output during the month under review, marking a 4% increase, YOY.
In terms of production of finished products, MSC was followed by ESCO with 2.07 million tons (3% lower than the same period of last year).
Other key producers of finished products were Khorasan Steel Company, Bonab Sheet Company, Ahvaz Rolling and Pipe Manufacturing Company, Azarbaijan Steel Company, Sirjan Steel Company and INSIG.
A total of 13.34 million tons of finished steel products, including hot- and cold-rolled coils, rebar, beams, pipes, wide and galvanized sheets, were produced by major steelmakers during the first 11 months of the fiscal year, up 3% YOY.
Their output of finished steel products amounted to 1.19 million tons in the 11th fiscal month to register a 9% increase YOY.
As per the goals set in the 20-Year National Vision Plan (2005-25), Iran seeks to become the world’s sixth largest steelmaker by 2025 with a crude steel output capacity of 55 million tons.
IMIDRO is a state-run enterprise and Iran's biggest holding company active in the mining sector.
Worldsteel Report
Iranian steel mills produced 2.3 million tons of crude steel in January-February 2021, which indicate an 11.3% rise compared with 2020, outgrowing the world's top 10 steel producers.
As per the latest report released by World Steel Association, Iran's two-month output amounted to 5 million tons, up 10.8%. The report ranks Iran as the world’s 10th biggest crude steel producer. China was the world’s largest crude steel producer in January with 175 billion tons of steel output, up 12.9% YOY.
It was followed by India with 19.4 million tons (up 3.4%), Japan with 15.4 million tons (down 4.7%), the United States with 13.3 million tons (down 9.9%), Russia with 12.1 million tons (down 0.2%), South Korea with 11.5 million tons (up 3.3%), Turkey with 6.4 million tons (up 9.4%) and Germany with 6.4 million tons (down 2.6%).
Iran is placed after Brazil (ninth) with 5.8 million tons.
The world’s 64 steelmakers produced a total of 315 million tons of steel over the two months, up 6.6% YOY. States located in Asia and Oceania collectively produced 230.8 million tons of the total output.
The Middle East produced 6.8 million tons of crude steel in the two months under review, posting an increase of 0.4% compared with the same period of last year.
Closure of businesses and disruption in industrial operations, as Covid-19 spread in early 2019, was among key factors causing a drop in the output of countries ranked above Iran during the last year. However, the world's major steel producers seem to have recovered their output in 2021.
Crude steel is defined as steel in its first solid (or usable) form: ingots and semi-finished products (billets, blooms and slabs). This is not to be confused with liquid steel, which is steel poured.
The World Steel Association is one of the largest and most dynamic industry associations in the world, with members in every major steel-producing country. Worldsteel represents steel producers, national and regional steel industry associations and steel research institutes. Members represent around 85% of global steel production.
The 64 countries included in this table accounted for approximately 99% of total world crude steel production in 2019.
Iranian steel mills produced a total of 29.029 million tons of crude steel in 2020, which indicate a 13.35% rise compared with 2019, marking the highest growth in output among the world's top 10 producers.
