Iran - Performance of Major Steel Makers

Iran, one of the largest steel producer and exporter in MENA region has produced 21.25 MNT in CY'17. Increasingly favorable global conditions, rapid capacity expansion and an accelerating drop in the national currency's value against the US dollar all helped Iran to produce 21.25 MnT during last year.

The last Persian year (ended March 20, 2018) had its ups and downs, but it was propitious for major Iranian exchange-listed steelmakers. The seven steel companies sold over 19.25 MnT of steel products worth IRR 347.3 trillion (about USD 6.94 billion) last year, registered a growth of 16% in sales volume and 56.21% growth in sales amount Y-o-Y.

A large part of the growth happened in the last month of the Persian year, Esfand (Feb 20-March 20), steelmakers sold a total of 1.98 MnT steel valued at IRR 44 trillion (USD 880 million), up by 14.8% in volume and 68.7% in value Y-o-Y respectively.

Iran's largest flat steelmaker, Mobarakeh Steel Company, topped the charts in terms of sales value as it sold IRR 158 trillion (USD 3.16 billion) worth of HRC, CRC and coated steel as well as "other" products during the period under review, up by 56.3% Y-o-Y.

MSC the Largest Producer

MSC, which is also Iran's largest steelmaker in terms of capacity, produced a total of 6.85 MnT of steel products last year, registered a growth of 13% Y-o-Y.
HRC coil was MSC's main product, with output reaching 4.09 MnT, 4.01 MnT of which were sold at IRR 89.06 trillion (USD 1.78 billion). HRC production was up by 8.8%, sales volume inched up by 0.55% and sales value jumped by 44.4% Y-o-Y.

Mobarakeh's HRC production growth has remained limited ever since the company stepped back on its export ambitions in 2017. It faced a double problem, one from local users decrying reduced domestic output and the European Union erecting tariff walls against shipments to the continent.

MSC sold 528,000 MT of steel products worth IRR 17.34 trillion (USD 346.82 million) while it produced 593,000 MT in Esfand to register 68.58% Y-o-Y growth respectively.

KSC the Largest Exporter

Iran's largest steel exporter, Khouzestan Steel Company, came next as it sold IRR 69.89 trillion (USD 1.397 billion) of bloom and billet, slab and pellet, up by a 51.46% Y-o-Y.

KSC's total output for the period stood at 9.92 MnT with sales volume standing at 4.47 MnT, growing 5% and 28.81% Y-o-Y respectively.

The large gap between output and sales is mostly due to KSC's high pellet production and limited sales, most of which were consumed by the steelmaker.

Exports made up 2.76 MnT of the company's total sales volume during the period, valued at IRR 48.94 trillion (USD 978 million). This is a new shipment record for the company.

Esfand was also good to KSC, as its sales rose 61.4% during the month to IRR 8.27 trillion (USD 165.3 million). Output grew 12% to 593,000 MT, while sales volume jumped 33.52% Y-o-Y to 681,000 MT.

Last month's exports stood at 263,945 MT valued at IRR 6.13 trillion (USD 122.6 million).

ESCO Output Increases by 6%

Esfahan Steel Company's sales rose 34.19% Y-o-Y to IRR 44.67 trillion (USD 893.4 million), while output grew by 6% Y-o-Y to 2.18 MnT and sales volume dropped by 5.32% Y-o-Y to 3.28 MnT.

As for Esfand performance, Iran's oldest steelmaker sold IRR 7.52 trillion (USD 150.4 million) worth of beams, rebar, coils, ingots and other products, up by 40.61% YOY. Output grew 8% Y-o-Y to 183,983 MT, while sales dropped 11.05% to 422,145 MT.

ESCO is currently grappling with accumulated losses worth IRR 21.4 trillion (USD 455 million), with a nominal capital of IRR 33.18 trillion (USD 706 million).

In what was good news for both ESCO and the government, Iranian Privatization Organization finally succeeded in selling a 16.75% in the steelmaker owned by Iran Steel Pensioners Fund in early March. This was IPO's fifth attempt to sell the block and subsequently a long overdue burden was taken off ESCO's shoulders.

Other Steelmakers

Hormozgan Steel Cmpany came next, as it sold steel products worth IRR 27.48 trillion (USD 549.6 million) last year, up by 79.75% Y-o-Y. Its output and sales also shoot up, as they grew 32% and 25.72% Y-o-Y to reach 1.5 MnT and 1.63 MnT respectively.

Next was Khorasan Steel Complex Company with sales growing 75.18% Y-o-Y to IRR 18.04 trillion (USD 360.9 million). Production and sales volume stood at 2.62 MnT and 1.14 MnT, rising 18% and 30.84% Y-o-Y respectively.

And then there was South Kaveh Steel Company with sales value reaching IRR 18.95 trillion (USD 379.1 million), up 111.16% Y-o-Y. Production and sales volume were up 47% and 44.8% Y-o-Y to 2.49 MnT and 1.32 MnT respectively.

Iran Alloy Steel Company came last with IRR 10.22 trillion (USD 204.4 million) in sales value, up by 40.78% Y-o-Y. Production was down 1% Y-o-Y to MT 397,896, as sales volume grew 15.61% Y-o-Y to 402,354 MT.

Inputs Taken from Financial Tribune