Iran, one of the largest steel producer in MENA region produced 4.46 MnT of crude steel in the first two months of 2018, registered a growth of 48.9% Y-o-Y, according to the latest report released by World Steel Association. Standalone in the months of February the crude steel production by the nation grew by 48.6% Y-o-Y by producing 2.12 MnT. During the CY’17, Iran produced 21.25 MnT of crude steel by registering a growth of around 18% Y-o-Y against 17.96 MnT produced in CY’16.
The Iranian steel industry had the fastest growth in production among all producers of more than 1 million tons of steel per month. Considering all producers, Iran is ranked fifth in terms of fastest annual and Y-o-Y growth in February respectively.
Iran’s steel industry needs about €22.1 billion ($27.4 billion) in new investment to achieve a target of 55 MnT/year of production capacity by 2025, the Iranian Steel Producers Association said in a report. About €13.39 billion is needed for infrastructure projects, including €5.05 billion for new railroads and €3.3 billion for power generation. About €8.2 billion should be invested directly into steelmaking and raw materials development, ISPA said.
Iran devised a plan in 2014 to boost annual steel production capacity to 55 MnT within 10 years. According to ISPA, Iran’s crude steel nominal capacity was 31.62 MnT/year, while production in the last Iranian year (which ended on March 20) was estimated at 22 million tons. Iran’s nominal iron ore production capacity is 80 MnT/year, has proven iron ore reserves is of 3.1 billion tons, which is expected to be consumed by 2035. Iran’s steel development plan is based on utilizing DRI, so energy consumption is considerable at 9.49 million cubic meters of natural gas per year. This will rise to 17.1 million cubic meters to meet the 2025 production target, according to the ISPA report.
Inputs taken from Financial Tribune
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