TEHRAN- Iranian steel producers exported 2.358 million tons of steel ingots and products during the first six months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-September 21), IRNA reported.

The country’s steel exports in the mentioned six months fell 33 percent compared to the previous year’s same period.

As reported, the fall in the exports of the mentioned commodities is mainly because of the decrease of the country’s foreign trade due to the outbreak of the coronavirus and also the increase in the demand for the said products inside the country.

Of the country’s total exports in H1, 19.5 percent was related to the sixth month of this year, which indicates the exports are following an upward trend.

Iran exported 1.786 million tons of steel during the first five months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-August 21).

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

Production of crude steel in Iran increased 14.4 percent in July from the figure for the same month in the past year, while the average global production for this commodity has fallen 2.5 percent in the mentioned month, a report released by the World Steel Association (WSA) said.

Iran’s crude steel production had also increased by 30 percent in 2019 while the average global growth in this sector stood at 3.5 percent.

The country managed to produce 31.9 million tons of crude steel during 2019, while the figure was 24 million tons in 2018.

Iran’s steel production is expected to reach 30 million tons in the current Iranian calendar year (ends on March 20, 2021), of which over 10 million tons will be exported.

EF/MA