Iran Steel Production Reaches 52.3m Tons in Fiscal 2020-21

EghtesadOnline: Iranian steelmakers produced a total of 52.33 million tons of semi-finished and finished steel products in the last fiscal year (ended March 20, 2021).

News ID: ۷۸۶۴۴۷

15 May 2021

According to Iranian Steel Producers Association’s latest report, semis accounted for 30.252 million tons of the total output, up 11% YOY.

Billet and bloom made up 18.805 million tons of semi-finished production.

Slab output reached 11.447 million tons to register a 12% and 10% YOY rise respectively.

The output of finished steel increased by 10% YOY to 22.078 million tons.

Long steel products had 11.601 million-ton share in the output of finished steel products, posting a 13% growth YOY.

Rebar production stood at 9.52 million tons (up 15% YOY). It was followed by beams with 1.24 million tons (up 11% YOY) and L-beam, T-beam and other types with 832,000 tons (up 4% YOY).

Production of flat steel picked up last year, increasing by 7% year-on-year to 10.47 million tons.

Hot-rolled coil made up 8.83 million tons of the production in this category, showing a 7% rise compared with the similar period of last year, followed by cold-rolled coil with 2.597 million tons, down 1% compared with the same period of last year and coated coil with 1.47 tons (down 4%).

Iran's output of direct reduced iron grew by 12% to 31.18 million tons, ISPA data show.

Heavyweight Producers

Mobarakeh Steel Company, the largest steel producer in Iran, recorded an 8% growth in its annual semi-finished steel output in the last fiscal year (ended March 20, 2021).

With the production of 9.84 million tons of semi-finished products, the company topped the list of Iranian steel mills. The output registered an 8% year-on-year rise.

The company’s output during the 12th month of the year (Feb. 20-March 20) increased by 24% to reach 915,311 tons, latest figures released by Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization show.

Mobarakeh also topped the list of steel producers in finished products. MSC and its subsidiary Saba Steel Company produced 8.03 million tons of finished steel in the last fiscal year, unchanged compared with the year before.

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 semis production, MSC was followed by Khuzestan Steel Company with 3.78 million tons of output. The number indicates a 3% growth compared with the year before.

KSC’s semi-finished output also grew by 6% during the 12th month of the year to reach 312,891 tons.

Esfahan Steel Company came next with 2.35 million tons of bloom output last year, marking a decline of 3% year-on-year. The company's monthly output of semis dropped by 1% to 205,526 tons.

South Kaveh Steel Company with 1.39 million tons (up 20% YOY), Chadormalu Steel Company with 1.025 tons and Khorasan Steel Company with 940,402 tons (down 20% YOY) were other main producers of semi-finished products last year.

South Kaveh Steel Company ranked fourth in terms of monthly semi-output production and recorded the highest monthly growth during the month to March 20. The company’s output stood at 139,409 tons during the month under review, up 61%.

Sirjan Jahan Steel Company posted a 141% growth in semis output during the year under review, the highest growth among steel heavyweights.

The heavyweight Iranian steel mills under the IMIDRO study collectively produced 22.54 million tons of semi-finished products in the last fiscal year, recording an 8% growth year-on-year.

A total of 2.04 million tons of semi-finished steel were produced by these mills during the 12th month, up 17% year-on-year.

As for production of finished products, MSC was followed by ESCO with 2.24 million tons (3% lower than the year before).

Other key producers of finished products were Khorasan Steel Company, Bonab Sheet Company, Ahvaz Rolling and Pipe Manufacturing Company, Azarbaijan Steel Company, Sirjan Steel Company and INSIG.

A total of 14.58 million tons of finished steel products, including hot- and cold-rolled coils, rebar, beams, pipes, wide and galvanized sheets, were produced by Iranian heavyweight steelmakers under IMIDRO review in the last fiscal year, up 3% YOY.

Their output of finished steel products hit 1.24 million tons in the 12th fiscal month to register a 9% increase YOY.

Worldsteel Report

Iranian steel mills produced a total of 7.5 million tons of crude steel during the first three months of 2021, which indicates a 10.7% rise compared with 2020, recording the second highest growth in the list of world's top 10 steel producers.

As per the latest report released by World Steel Association, Iran's March output hit 2.6 million tons, up 10.7% YOY.

The report ranks Iran the world’s 10th biggest crude steel producer. China was the world’s largest crude steel producer in Q1 with 271 billion tons of steel output, up 15.6% YOY.

It was followed by India with 29.6 million tons (up 10.4%), Japan with 23.7 million tons (down 1.7%), the United States with 20.4 million tons (down 6.3%), Russia with 18.9 million tons (down 4.4%), South Korea with 17.6 million tons (up 3.8%), Germany with 10 million tons (up 1.7%) and Turkey with 9.8 million tons (up 9.5%).

Iran is placed after Brazil (ninth) with 8.7 million tons.

The world’s 64 steelmakers produced a total of 486.9 million tons of steel over the three months, up 10% YOY. States located in Asia and Oceania collectively produced 356.9 million tons of the total.

The Middle East produced 10.5 million tons of crude steel in the three months under review, posting an increase of 3.2% compared with the same period of last year.

The closure of businesses and disruption in industrial operations, as a result of Covid-19 spread in early 2019, was among key factors causing a drop in the output of countries ranked above Iran last year. However, the world's major steel producers seem to have recovered their output in 2021.

Crude steel is defined as steel in its first solid (or usable) form: ingots and semi-finished products (billets, blooms and slabs). This is not to be confused with liquid steel, which is steel poured.

The World Steel Association is one of the largest and most dynamic industry associations in the world, with members in every major steel-producing country. Worldsteel represents steel producers, national and regional steel industry associations and steel research institutes. Members represent around 85% of global steel production.

The 64 countries included in this table accounted for approximately 99% of total world crude steel production in 2019.

Iranian steel mills produced a total of 29.029 million tons of crude steel in 2020, which indicate a 13.35% rise compared with 2019, the highest growth in output in the list of world's top 10 producers.