With Over 3m Tons, MSC Remains Biggest Iranian Steelmaker

EghtesadOnline: With 3.18 million tons of output, Mobarakeh Steel Company had the largest share of steel production in Iran during the first two months of the current fiscal year (March 20-May 20).

News ID: ۷۵۰۲۸۲

21 June 2020

The company produced 1.46 million tons of finished steel during the period, to register a 2% decline compared with last year’s corresponding period.

In addition, 1.71 tons of semi-finished products were produced by MSC, up 10% year-on-year, the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization’s latest report shows.

MSC’s total steel production over the month ending May 20, reached 1.54 million tons.

The company’s finished steel production stood at 725,236 tons, down 1% YOY. A total of 815,656 tons of semi-finished steel were produced in Mobarakeh, marking a 10% rise compared with the corresponding period of last year.

Located in southwestern Isfahan, Mobarakeh Steel Company is the biggest steel producer in Iran and the Middle East and North Africa region.

In terms of finished steel production, MSC was followed by Esfahan Steel Company (ESCO) with 385,595 tons (down 3% YOY), Azarbaijan Steel Company with 59,158 tons (up 25% YOY), Bonab Steel with 41,495 tons (down 84%) and IASCO with 128 tons (down 96%).

In terms of semis production, MSC was followed by KSC with 693,827 tons (up 7% YOY), ESCO with 379,123 tons (down 10% YOY), Khorasan Steel Company with 117,126 tons (down 36% YOY) and Iran Alloy Steel Company with 45,012 tons.

The above-mentioned steelmakers, considered heavyweight producers in Iran, produced a total of 5.94 million tons of steel (semis and finished) during the two months.

A total of 2.36 million tons of finished steel products, including hot- and cold-rolled coils, rebar, beams, pipes, wide and galvanized sheets, were produced by these steel mills during the period under review to register a 1% YOY rise.

They produced 3.58 million tons of semi-finished steel, including ingot, bloom and billet, during the two months, up 3% year-on-year.

Total Output Rises 1.45% to 8.17m Tons

Iranian steelmakers produced close to 8.17 million tons of semi-finished and finished steel products during the first two month of the current Iranian year (March 20-May 20) to register a 1.45% year-on-year increase.

According to the Iranian Steel Producers Association’s latest report, semi-finished steel made up around 4.69 million tons of the total output, up 4% YOY.

Billet and bloom made up 2.69 million tons of semi-finished production while slab output hit 1.99 million tons to register a 2% decline and a 13% rise respectively YOY.

As for finished steel, the output decreased by 1% YOY to stand over 3.47 million tons.

Flat steel products had the lion’s share of finished steel production with 1.81 million tons, down 1% YOY. HRC made up 1.57 tons of the production in this category, showing a 1% decline compared with the similar period of last year, followed by CRC with 429,000 tons, which registered a 48% rise YOY, and coated coil with 211,000 tons (down 9% YOY).

Long steel products had a 1.66 million-ton share in the output of finished steel products, posting a 1% decline YOY. Rebar had a major share here with 1.34 million tons (up 2% YOY), followed by beams with 201,000 tons (down 11% YOY) and L-beam, T-beam and other types with 122,000 tons (down 9% YOY).

Direct-reduced iron production stood at 5.55 million tons during the two-month period, indicating an 11% growth YOY.

World’s 10th Biggest Steelmaker

According to the Brussels-based international trade body for the iron and steel industry, Iranian steel mills produced 8.49 million tons of crude steel during January-April, which indicates a 4.3% rise compared with the corresponding period of 2019.

Iran’s crude steel output stood at 31.9 million tons in 2019, up 30.1% YOY.

The country is aggressively pursuing the target of becoming the world’s sixth largest steel producer as per the 20-Year Vision Plan, which targets annual production capacity expansion to 55 million tons and 20-25 million tons of exports per year by 2025.

Iranian steel mills have so far realized about 35 million tons of the capacity target.