TEHRAN - Iran was ranked 19th among the world’s top steel ingot exporters while taking 53rd place for the exports of steel products in 2019, data provided by Trade Map website showed.

According to the mentioned website, in 2019, Iran ranked 159th among the world’s top 196 countries in terms of importing crude steel (ingots), IRNA reported.

The country ranked 53rd among 195 countries in the exports of steel products and it was ranked 85th out of 226 countries in global imports of steel products.

Based on the mentioned data, Iranian imports of crude steel and steel products in 2019 stood at $42 million and $302 million, respectively.

The country exported $312 million and $252 million worth of crude steel and steel products in the mentioned year, respectively.

Last year, the total production of crude steel (ingots) in Iran stood at 26.8 million tons and the total volume of steel products output reached 20.6 million tons, according to the mentioned website.

According to IRNA, foreign trade statistics for the first seven months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-September 21) show that the country exported 4,375,851 tons of steel ingot and products worth $1.59 billion of which 76.8 percent were billets and blooms.

The value of the steel exports in the said seven-months decreased by 37 percent compared to the same period in the previous year, the Industry, Trade, and Mining Ministry Data showed.

The total exports of steel ingots and products exceeded 10.5 million tons in the previous Iranian calendar year (ended on March 19).

As reported, the imports of steel products in the first seven months of the current fiscal year reached 633,665 tons, which shows a 51 percent increase compared to the same period last year.

The value of the imported commodities stood at $714.6 million in the said time span, also 32 percent less than the figure for the same period in the preceding year.

EF/MA