TEHRAN (Iran News) – The steel production in Iran grew by three percent in the quarter ending late June despite a reported fall in the global production of the metal.
A report published by the Iranian Steel Producers Association (ISPA) showed that total steel output in the country had surged in the three-month period ending June 20, to top 7.135 million tons, reported Press TV.
The surge came despite the 8.7 percent fall reported in the global production of the metal at the end of May which had come mainly as a result of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Iran closed down many steel mills in early March after the coronavirus pandemic imposed a lockdown on industrial and business activity.
However, breakdown figures by ISPA showed that Iranian mills pumped out 12 percent more steel slabs this year compared to the March-June period in 2019, to reach a total production of three million tons.
Production of billet and bloom decreased slightly, by three percent, over the three-month period as mills churned out a total of 4.1 million tons, added the report covered by the official IRNA news agency.
Moreover, the report said that Iran’s steel product output also increased between late March and late June, which corresponds to the first quarter of the Iranian fiscal year, to stand at 5.3 million tons.
Total production for sponge iron, also known as direct-reduced iron (DRI), also surged by 12 percent year-on-year in June, to top 8.1 million tons, it said.
The 10th largest producer of steel in the world, Iran eyes a slight increase in annual steel production in 2020 despite a projected fall in the global output because of the pandemic and also the fact that the country’s metals and mining sector remain under a series of US sanctions.
Iran cast a total of 28 million tons of steel in the year ending March 2019, of which just more than a fourth, around 8.5 million tons, was shipped to other countries.
- source : Iran Daily, Irannews
