TEHRAN- Iranian steel producers produced 8.279 million tons of crude steel during the four-month period from March 21 to July 22, with 17 percent growth from the figure of the same period of time in the past year, IRIB reported on Saturday based on the data released by Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO).

IMIDRO data put the country’s crude steel production at 7.062 million tons during the same four months of the previous year.

Meanwhile, Iran’s export of the steel products has experienced a 117-percent increase during the four-month period of this year from that of the past year.

According to the latest report released by the World Steel Association (WSA), Iran was ranked the 11th among the world’s largest crude steel producers in the first half of 2018.

The WSA data showed that the country’s crude steel output stood at 12.516 million tons during the first six-month of this year, rising 25.8 percent from 9.947 million tons in the same period of time in the past year.

It is while the world’s steel production during January-June, 2018 rose just 4.6 percent.

“Iran produces 34 million tons of steel per year and is aimed at producing 55 million tons of the product by 2025,” according to Industry Minister Mohammad Shariatmadari.

To hit the target, Iran is in need of attracting €8 billion of investments, the minister said.

He also announced that the country exports 9 million tons of crude steel per year and plans to improve the figure up to 15 million tons by 2025.

MA/MA