Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the government plans to increase the country's steel production to 48 million tons during the next five years.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of an iron ore concentrate production line at the Sangan-Khaf iron ore mine in the Iranian eastern province of Khorasan Razavi on Friday, President Ahmadinejad said the current amount of Iran’s steel production which is at 14 million tons now should reach 48 million tons in a 4-5-year period.
“In order to produce steel and steel products, we need concentrates, iron ore and pellets,” he said.
The Iranian chief executive stated that the steel production capacity of the unit, which currently stands at 2.6 million tons of concentrates and pellets, will reach 5 million tons in the near future.
The major raw steel producers of Iran are the Mobarakeh Steel Mill, with approximately 47 percent of the market share, the Khuzestan Steel Company with about 23 percent, the Isfahan Foundry with about 20 percent, and the Iran National Steel Industries Group with approximately 10 percent of the market share.
According to the latest report published by the World Steel Association (WSA), Iran has become the largest producer of crude steel in the Middle East and Africa, given the hike in its steel output.
The report said that Iran produced 3.626 million tons of raw steel in the first quarter of 2012, indicating a 6.8-percent rise compared to the corresponding period last year.
Additionally, Iran’s crude steel output hit 1.163 million tons in March 2012, which shows a 7.7-percent hike in comparison with the same period last year.
Iran is among the 15 major mineral-rich countries of the world and exports its industrial and mineral products to 159 countries, including Iraq, China, the United Arab Emirates, India and Afghanistan.
Source: PressTV