Top Brass in Steel Sector Meet at Industries Ministry

EghtesadOnline: Private sector players and government officials engaged in the steel sector met on Sunday at the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade to discuss the steel industry’s potential and challenges in the runup to the Eighth Iran Steel Market Conference.

News ID: ۷۸۰۸۸۹

25 December 2017

Participants literally included the industrial sector's Who's Who, such as Industries Minister Mohammad Shariatmadari; his deputy Jafar Sarqeyni; the head of Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization, Mehdi Karbasian; advisor to first vice president, Mostafa Moazenzadeh; the head of Iran Mine House, Mohammad Reza Bahramen; the head of the board of directors of Iran Steel Producers Association, Mahmoud Eslamian; managing director of Pars Diba Bonyan Company, Alireza Shekarriz; managing director of Chadormalu Mining and Industrial Complex, Mahmoud Nourian; the head of Iran International Engineering Company, Ali Hemmat; the head of Iron Ore Producers and Exporters Association of Iran, Mehrdad Akbarian; advisor to the head of Middle East Mines and Mining Industries Development Holding Company, Reza Ashraf-Semnani; and owner of Donya-e-Eqtesad media group Alireza Bakhtiari.

Scheduled to be held in the Iranian capital on Jan. 30-31, ISMC 2018 is hosted by Donya-e-Eqtesad Taban Company, the parent company of Financial Tribune.

“Iran is the largest exporter and importer of steel in the MENA region, yet international steel conferences used to be held in neighboring countries such as the UAE and Turkey. That is why ISMC was initiated by Donya-e-Eqtesad in 2009, and it has successfully managed to direct steel-related events in the region to Iran,” Financial Tribune quoted Bakhtiari as saying.

Shariatmadari highlighted ISMC’s potential for attracting foreign investments to Iran's steel sector.

“Not all Iranian industries have the potential for joint ventures. But steel does and will benefit immensely from it,” the minister said, emphasizing that the industry requires €8.5 billion of investment to add about 100 million tons of new iron ore concentrate, pellet, semi-finished steel and direct-reduced iron production capacity.

Karbasian noted that most of the industry’s challenges were overcome in the last four years and that it has now emerged as a successful exporter, hampered only by the imbalance in the steel production chain.

The IMIDRO chief expects the Iranian steel sector to post significant growth in the next four years.

ISMC 2018 is scheduled to be held on Jan. 30-31 in Tehran.