Shortage of gas has become a major headache for the steel industry, as curbs on gas supplies have intensified since last year so much so that direct-reduced iron production units have had to close down under severe restrictions, which has consequently affected the steel industry, according to Vahid Yaqoubi, an executive manager of the Iranian Steel Producers Association.
“Due to gas and electricity supply restrictions, we fell behind by about 6 million tons from our steel production plans last year [March 2021-22],” he was quoted as saying by the news portal of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture last week.
The sharp drop in temperatures across Iran in recent weeks has led to an unprecedented increase in energy consumption, which is also blamed on the cheap price of gas in the country. This is while Iran has lost gas import from Turkmenistan due to problems in the Central Asian country’s domestic network. As a result, gas supply to industries was curtailed to meet the growing needs of households.