TEHRAN – Iran exported about $4.5 billion worth of steel products including ingots, profiles, and sheets in the first eight months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-November 21), registering a 14-percent rise year on year.

According to the spokesman of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) Rohollah Latifi, steel products accounted for 14.5 percent of the country’s total non-oil exports during the mentioned eight months.

Latifi noted that some 11.067 million tons of various iron and steel products worth $3.735 billion were exported in the previous year, of which 2.23 million tons were iron ore and other related raw materials.

The exports of steel products in the first eight months of the current year have exceeded the total figure for the previous year by $800 million, the official noted.

Iran exported over 5.912 million tons of steel during the first seven months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-October 22), which was also 30 percent more than the figure of the same period of time in the past year.

Based on the data released by the Iranian Steel Producers Association (ISPA), of the mentioned figure 1.486 million tons was the share of steel profiles which also registered a 44-percent rise year on year.

According to ISPA, Iranian exports of steel during the previous Iranian calendar year declined 13.1 percent compared to the figure for the preceding year.

The Iranian Steel industry has been constantly developing over the past years against all the pressures and obstacles created by outside forces like the U.S. sanctions and the coronavirus outbreak that has severely affected the performance of the world’s top producers.

The country is expected to climb to seventh place among the world’s top steel producers by the Iranian calendar year 1404 (March 2025).

The production capacity of the country's steel chain increased from 123 million tons in the Iranian calendar year 1392 (ended in March 2014) to 230 million tons in the previous year (ended on March 20).

According to the latest World Steel Association (WSA) report released in early September, the production of crude steel in Iran reached 17.8 million tons during January-July, 2021 to register a 9.9 percent growth year on year.

The WSA’s report put the crude steel output by the world’s top 64 producers at 1.165 billion tons in the mentioned time span, registering an increase of 12.4 percent.

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