Iran: Finished steel production slips 5% on year amid power outages

Iran's steel production in the first nine months of the current Persian year (21 Mar-22 Dec'21) fell compared to the corresponding period of last year, according to recent data released by the Iranian Steel Producers Association (ISPA).

• The country produced 21.09 million tonnes (mn t) of semi-finished steel in Mar-Nov'21, down 8%, y-o-y. Billets and blooms accounted for 12.47 mn t, out of the total semi-finished output, a significant on year fall of 13% while slabs production was down marginally by 2% y-o-y to stand at 8.62 mn t.
  
  
• The total production of finished steel stood at 14.72 mn t in the period under review, lower by 5%, y-o-y as against 15.57 mn t in the same period last year.
  
  
• Production of long and flat steel stood at 8.43 mn t and 6.29 mn t, down by 3% and 9%, respectively in this period.
  
  
• As per statistics released by ISPA, direct reduced iron (DRI) production stood at 23.8 mn t in Mar-Nov'21, up by 2% y-o-y when compared to 23.3 mn t in CPLY.
  
  

The decline in production comes as steel mills were forced to lower power consumption amidst widespread blackouts in the scorching summer.

Also, Iranian steel mills are presently struggling with governmental restrictions on natural gas usage, which has already started impacting steel production volumes.