Iran’s five-month steel ingot output tops 9.6m tons

Iran produced over 9.6 million tons of steel ingots in the first five months of the current Iranian year (March 20-August 21), showing a 19 percent increase compared to related figure of last year.

According to the statistics released by the Iranian Steel Producers Association, the production of steel ingots during the corresponding five-month period of last year amounted to 8.09 tons, IRNA reported.

The report added that over 8.3 million tons of steel products were produced during the said period, indicating a 16 percent hike compared to corresponding figure of its preceding year, 7.22 million tons.

According to figures released by the World Steel Association (WSA) on August 24, Iranian steelmakers produced over 16.2 million tons of crude steel during the first seven of 2020, marking a 10.7 percent rise compared to the figure for the same period of 2019, which was 14.6 million tons.

Iran produced 2.3 million tons of crude steel in July, showing a 14.3 percent increase compared to the figure for the same month of 2019, which was 2.04 million tons.

Iran produced 31.9 million tons of crude steel in 2019, according to the WSA figures released in January.

The country plans to increase its annual steel production capacity to 55 million tons by 2025, with exports expected to reach between 10 million tons and 15 million tons per year.