TEHRAN - Amir Hossein Kaveh, the head of Iranian Syndicate of Steel Pipe and Profile Manufacturers, said the pipe and profile industry has a $1-billion annual export capacity which could be of great significance for the country’s economy in the current situation.

“Iran's pipe and profile industry exports to at least 17 countries around the world, but due to the problems regarding the supply of raw materials and the skyrocketing prices in the market, the export of pipes and profiles is halted,” Kaveh told IRNA on Monday.

According to the official, the quota for steel sheets also plays an important role in the downward export trend.

Government should reconsider its policies regarding this industry, he said.

Kaveh also noted that the members of the syndicate exported over 750,000 tons of pipes and profiles to foreign destinations in the Iranian calendar year 1397 (ended on March 20, 2019).

The exports from this sector also led to a boom in the employment, so stopping exports would firstly hurt the employment.

According to IRNA, Iran exported 809,665 tons of steel during the first two months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-May 20).

As reported, the two-month export this year was drastically lower than the figure for the same period of time in the past year, which was 2.041 million tons.

The country’s steel export is expected to reach 10 million tons in the current Iranian calendar year (ends on March 2021), of which about 35- 45 percent would be steel products, including steel sheets.

In its outlook plan for the Iranian calendar year 1404 (2025-2026) Iran has envisaged production of 55 million tons of steel per annum.

EF/MA