TEHRAN - Iran’s exports of crude steel and related products are forecasted to rise by 50 percent in the current Iranian calendar year, which ends on March 20, 2017.

Steel exports amounted to 4.1 million tons in the past Iranian calendar year, National Iranian Steel Company Managing Director Abdolmajid Sharifi said, adding that the figure is anticipated to reach six million tons in the current year.

He also said Iran’s annual crude steel exports is projected to hit 15 million tons in 2025, IRNA reported.

Sharifi further announced that the country’s crude steel output is foreseen to reach 18 million tons by the end of 2016.

According to the World Steel Association (WSA), Iran produced 13.210 million tons of crude steel in the first nine months of 2016, with 8 percent rise from 12.231 million tons in the same period last year.

The country’s steel production stood at 16.110 million tons in 2015, indicating 1.4 percent fall from 2014.

As a major steel producer in the region, Iran boosted its steel mills across the country in recent years, as central Isfahan and southwestern Khuzestan provinces remain the major steel producers.

According to WSA, Iran was the biggest producer of crude steel in the Middle East in 2013. The country’s rank was 14th in the world in 2014.

MA/MG