Iranian Steel Production Rises Despite US Sanctions

Iran's annual crude steel production is slated to increase by 3 million tons to 28 million tons in the current Iranian calendar year (ends March 19, 2020), announced the head of Iran's Mining and Mining Industry Development and Reconstruction Organization (IMIDRO).

“Today we are witnessing national will, and the desire for self-sufficiency and the advancement of production and the indigenous population should in fact be seen as a necessity in this regard,” stresses IMIDRO.

Iran's crude steel production in the first eight months of 2019 is up six percent over the same period in 2018, the World Steel Association (WSA) said in its latest report.

The WSA has estimated the country's steel production at 17.188 million tonnes in eight months of this year, up from 16.153 million tonnes in the same period last year.

Iranian steel production is on the rise despite US sanctions.

In an attempt (as US President Trump put it) "to cut off the largest non-oil sources of export revenue," Washington imposed new sanctions on Iran's metallurgical and mineral sectors in early May.

While at first glance (taking into account Trump's comments) this may seem like a serious blow to Iran's economy in the near future, a careful analysis of the country's export data could reveal serious miscalculations of Trump. In fact, it could even be considered a "hidden blessing" for the country's mineral and metallurgical industries.

Iranian Industry, Mines and Trade Minister Reza Rahmani, at a meeting with members of the Iranian Steel Association in late July, said the country had achieved proper self-sufficiency in the steel industry.

The minister stressed that the metallurgical industry is one of the industries in which good investments have been made, and today it has become a production advantage.

At a press conference on June 8, the Deputy Minister of Industry, Mines and Trade said Iran's annual steel production should reach 45 million tons by the Iranian calendar year 1400 (March 2021 - March 2022).

Jafar Sarkini also announced that Iran will open steel projects with a capacity of at least 10 million tons during the current Iranian calendar year.

According to the World Steel Association, Iran became the tenth largest steel producer in the world in 2018, ahead of countries such as Italy and Ukraine.

Iran produced 25 million tons of steel in 2018, according to a WSA report, an increase of 17.7 percent from 21.2 million tons in 2017.