Iran: Steel exports of key mills up in first 7 months of Persian Year

Iran's key steel mills have reported a rise in steel exports in the seven months of the current Persian Year (Mar-Oct'21), according to the latest data available to SteelMint.

Restrictions on electricity consumption and widespread blackouts which prevailed in the second quarter had slowed down the rate of steel exports. However, now, with easing power supplies, export allocations by mills are improving.

Despite the ups and downs in the last few months, Iranian steel mills managed to export higher volumes in the first seven months of the current Persian Year compared to last year.

Company-wise exports

• By exporting 0.97 million tonnes (mn t) of steel products during the first seven months of the current Persian Year, Khouzestan Steel Company topped the list of steel exporters. Exports registered an increase of 11% as against the corresponding period last year (CPLY).
  
  
• KSC is followed by Mobarakeh Steel Company with 0.73 mn t of exports during the first seven months. The volume indicates a rise of 51% when compared to CPLY.
  
  
• Esfahan Steel Company comes next with 0.69 mn t of exports during the seven-month period, registering a rise of 26%, y-o-y.
  
  
• Sirjan Iranian Steel Company registered the highest growth of 257% in its export volumes with 0.15 mn t during the period under review.
  
  

Steel production of key mills drop in Mar-Oct'21

Iran's steel production in the first seven months of the current Persian Year registered a significant fall as against the same period last year.

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

As manufacturing of steel and related products is an energy-intensive process, steel and cement factories had been restricted from heavy consumption by the Iran Power Generation, Distribution and Transmission Company (locally known as Tavanir). These units were forced to work at a fraction of their capacity and that too within specified hours.

• Mobarakeh Steel Company produced 5.38 mn t and 4.38 mn t of semi-finished and finished steel, respectively, in the first seven months of the current Persian Year. However, the mills' semi-finished and finished steel output was down by 7% and 9%, respectively. Located in south-western Isfahan, Mobarakeh Steel Company is the biggest steel producer across Iran and the entire Middle East.
  
  
• In terms of semis production, MSC was followed by Khouzestan Steel Company with 1.75 mn t during the first seven months.
  
  
• Esfahan Steel Company, with 1.33 mn t, South Kaveh Steel Company with 0.76 mn t, Chadormalu Steel Company with 0.55 mn t and Khorasan Steel Company with 0.51 mn t were the other main producers of semi-finished steel.
  
  
• In terms of finished steel production, MSC was followed by ESCO with 1.28 mn t.