The export volume for Bahman, the 11th month of the Iranian year (Jan. 21-Feb. 19), stood at 763,304 tons, surging 111% year-on-year.
Iran’s steel exports have witnessed significant growth for the last two months amid rial’s weakening against the US dollar and improving global market conditions.
Iranian steelmakers have experienced a very good fiscal year so far with solid growth registered each month, except for Mehr and Ordibehesht, the seventh and second months of the Iranian year respectively, Financial Tribune reported.
> KSC Sets Shipment Record
Khouzestan Steel Company exported a record high of 2.5 million tons of slab, bloom and billet during the 11-month period, registering a 49% rise YOY, to remain the biggest Iranian steel exporter.
Bloom exports had the lion’s share of KSC's exports with 1.05 million tons, going up 153% YOY. Billet exports came next with 725,901 tons up 13% YOY, followed by slabs with 727,839 tons up 17% YOY.
KSC has sustained a double-digit growth each and every month of this year except for Azar, the ninth month of the Iranian year. As for Bahman, shipments were up 74% YOY to 282,028 tons.
The company’s sales data gathered from Codal.ir indicate that it sold 62.95 trillion rials ($1.39 billion) of bloom and billet, slab and pellet during the same 11 months, growing 50.22% YOY. Exports made up 46.81 trillion rials ($951.46 million) of the total figure.
Its total output during the period stood at 9.22 million tons with sales volume standing at 3.97 million tons, growing 4.81% and 9.69% YOY respectively.
The disparity between output and sales is mostly due to KSC’s sizable pellet production and limited sales, most of which were consumed by domestic steelmakers.
Bahman was also good for KSC as its sales surged 174.61% during the month to 8.61 trillion rials ($191.5 million). Output grew a meager 4.66% to 707,341 tons, while sales volume jumped 101.2% YOY to 482,763 tons.
The steelmaker, located in the southwestern Khuzestan Province, exports to over a dozen countries. About half of the exports go to the Middle East and North Africa region. Other major export destinations are located in the Far East and Americas.
> ESCO Exports Up 99%
Esfahan Steel Company was the second biggest exporter during the 11 months with 1.02 million tons of beam, rebar, coils and other products shipped overseas, up 99% YOY.
Rebar made up 129,500 tons of ESCO’s overall exports, rising 2% YOY. It was followed by beam and coil with 89,407 tons and 59,385 tons respectively. Beam shipments were down 26% YOY, while coil exports surged 865%. Steel products listed as "other" made up 748,218 tons of all the exports, up 185% YOY.
Its total sales during the period grew 32.98% YOY to 37.14 trillion rials ($825.49 million), while output and sales volume moved up 4.81% and 6.91% YOY to 1.99 and 2.86 million tons respectively.
Bahman shipments grew 106% on a YOY basis to reach 105,926 tons. All commodities’ exports were up in double digits save for beams, which dropped 71% YOY.
Iran’s oldest steelmaker sold 4.63 trillion rials ($103.1 million) of beams, rebar, coils, ingots and other products in Bahman, up 58.74% YOY. Output grew 9.42% YOY to 184,193 tons and sales were up 22.88% to 298,602 tons.
> MSC Shipments Up 907% in 11th Month
Mobarakeh Steel Company finally broke past its subsidiary Hormozgan Steel Company after months of coming in second.
MSC shipped 1.05 million tons of hot- and cold-rolled, acid-washed, tin-plated, coated, checkered and galvanized flat steel during the 11-month period, dropping 28% YOY.
The giant steelmaker staged a spectacular performance in Bahman, however, as its shipments surged 907% YOY to 171,636 tons. The 698% YOY jump in HRC and 719% in galvanized products were the growth’s primary drivers.
MSC sold a total of 140.68 trillion rials ($3.1 billion) of products during the 11 months, up 54.97% YOY. Its output grew 13% YOY to 6.26 million tons.
HOSCO exported slightly more than 1 million tons of slab, up 9% YOY. Its Bahman shipments dropped 45% YOY to 63,583 tons. It sold 23.64 trillion rials ($525.4 million) of steel products during the 11 months, rising 73.39% YOY. Its output and sales also recorded solid upticks, as they grew 34.76% and 22.8% YOY to 1.37 and 1.45 million tons respectively.
Together with its subsidiaries, Mobarakeh Steel Company is the largest flat producer in the Middle East and North Africa region, accounting for 1% of Iran’s GDP.
> Other Producers
South Kaveh Steel Company came next, as its billet exports stood at 707,000 tons. Its Bahman shipments stood at 89,000 tons.
Khorasan Steel Company was next with 112,825 tons of rebar exported, up 70% YOY. Its exports during the 11th month dropped 59% to 4,765 tons.
Iran Alloy Steel Company followed with 63,285 tons of rebar shipments, up 61% YOY. Its exports during Bahman grew 2% YOY to 4,292 tons.
Khouzestan Oxin Steel Company was ranked next with 22,392 tons of plates, up 27% YOY. It exported 7,074 tons in the 11th month, up 934% YOY.
As part of the 20-Year Vision Plan (2005-25), the Iranian steel industry aims to become the world’s sixth largest steelmaker by reaching an output capacity of 55 million tons per year by the deadline (2025). Exports are expected to reach 8 million tons in the current fiscal year, which ends on March 20.