Latest data released by the World Steel Association show Iran’s steel output has declined, yet the country’s world standing remains unchanged.
Iranian steel mills produced a total of 22.4 million tons of crude steel in the first 10 months of 2021, which indicate a 5.7% decline compared with the corresponding period of 2020.
As per the t report released by the World Steel Association, Iran's October output hit 2.2 million tons, down 15.3% year-on-year.
Despite the decline in output, Iran maintained its global status as the world’s 10th biggest crude steel manufacturer.
China was the world’s largest crude steel producer in the 10-month period with 877.1 million tons of steel output, down 0.7% YOY.
It was followed by India with 96.9 million tons (up 20.6%), Japan with 80.4 million tons (up 17.5%), the United States with 71.7 million tons (up 19.6%), Russia with 62.5 million tons (up 5.7%), South Korea with 58.7 million tons (up 5.9%), Germany with 33.6 million tons (up 15.1%) and Turkey with 33.3 million tons (up 14.2%).
Iran is placed after Brazil (ninth) with 30.3 million tons (up 19.1% YOY).
The world’s 64 steelmakers produced 1.61 billion tons of steel over the 10 months under review, up 5.9% YOY. States located in Asia and Oceania collectively produced 1.17 million tons of the total.
The Middle East produced 33 million tons of crude steel in the 10 months under review, posting a decrease of 1.5% compared with the same period of last year.
Global steel output also experienced a 10.6% decline in October to 145.7 million tons.
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 represent 85% of global steel production.
Iranian steel mills produced a total of 29.02 million tons of crude steel in 2020, which indicate a 13.35% rise compared with 2019 and the highest growth in the list of the world's top 10 producers.
ISPA Report
Latest data released by the Iranian Steel Producers Association show Iranian steelmakers produced a total of 15.77 million tons of semi-finished products during the seven months to Oct. 22, down 11% year-on-year.
According to the Iranian Steel Producers Association, billet and bloom made up 9.33 million tons of total semi-finished production, down 15% YOY.
Slab output reached 6.44 million tons to register a 5% decline year-on-year.
The output of finished steel decreased by 8% YOY to 11.03 million tons.
Long steel products had a 6.29 million-ton share in the output of finished steel products, posting a 3% decline compared with the similar period of last year.
Rebar production stood at 5.14 million tons (down 3% YOY). It was followed by beams with 697,000 tons (down 9% YOY) and L-beam, T-beam and other types with 469,000 tons (unchanged from the corresponding period of last year).
Production of flat steel with 4.74 million tons registered a 13% YOY decline in the seven-month period.
Hot-rolled coil made up 4.66 million tons of the production in this category, showing a 12% YOY decline, followed by cold-rolled coil with 1.41 million tons, down 12% YOY, and coated coil with 860,000 tons, down 5% compared with last year’s corresponding period.
Iran's output of direct reduced iron stood at 17.38 million tons during the period under review down 4% YOY.
Output Hit by Power Restrictions in Summer
The decline in steel output is due to power outages and restrictions imposed on steelmakers in summer.
In a letter to the Supreme National Security Council, ISPA has put steel mills’ losses due to power outages at $6 billion from the beginning of the current Iranian year (March 21) to Sept.r 12.
According to ISPA, 82 complete days of production were lost during the period due to power outages and 300,000 direct and indirect jobs were lost or restricted, the news portal of the association reported.
Summer demand led to severe power and water shortages in summer in most regions, resulting in blackouts and dry taps.
Electricity consumption on June 20 surpassed 62,000 MW.
The new record came as high temperatures nationwide drove general electricity consumption to new heights, prompting authorities to prioritize domestic users over industries in supplying power.
As the manufacture of steel and cement is an energy-intensive process, their factories were restricted by the Iran Power Generation, Distribution and Transmission Company (locally known as Tavanir) and have been only allowed to work at a fraction of their capacity within specified hours.
The abrupt ban on the two key sectors created shortages of steel and cement in local markets and prices increased overnight, creating new problems for most construction sectors.
According to Tavanir Spokesman Mostafa Rajabi-Mashhadi, all power restrictions on industries were removed as of Sept. 23.
“This summer, a series of challenges such as unprecedented drought made it difficult to provide sustainable electricity to all subscribers, so given the priority of electricity supply to households and the public sectors, we were forced to impose restrictions on the industrial sector,” he was quoted as saying by ISNA.
Strong Rise in Exports
Despite a decline in output, Iranian steelmakers registered strong growth in exports during the period under review.
According to ISPA, a total of 4.06 million tons of semi-finished steel products were exported from Iran in the first seven months of the current fiscal year, up 27% compared with the previous year’s similar period.
Billet and bloom had the lion’s share of semis exports with an aggregate of 2.72 million tons, 11% higher than the previous corresponding period.
Slab exports amounted to 1.34 million tons during the period, up 80% year-on-year.
Exports of finished steel products grew by 38% to 1.86 million tons during the seven months under review.
Rebar accounted for the largest portion of finished steel products exported from Iran during the period, with 1.31 million tons. The total volume of Iran’s rebar exports experienced a 57% growth compared with the same period of last year.
Beam exports amounted to 75,000 tons during the period under review, down 21% YOY.
About 104,000 tons of L-beam, T-beam and other types were also exported from Iran during the period, unchanged from the corresponding period of last year.
Hot-rolled coil exports amounted to 291,000 tons, registering a 24% growth compared with the year before.
Cold-rolled coil with 11,000 tons registered a 56% decline year-on-year and coated coil with 67,000 tons, up 29% YOY, was the other finished steel product exported from Iran.
Exports of direct-reduced iron increased by 279% YOY to 698,000 tons, ISPA figures show.
DRI, also known as sponge iron, is produced from direct reduction of iron ore in the form of lumps, pellets or fines by a reducing gas. It can be processed to create wrought iron.
Iran and India are the world’s biggest producer of DRI.
