TEHRAN - Iran has been ranked eighth among the world’s top steel producers during January-June 2023, according to the latest data released by the World Steel Association (WSA).

Production of crude steel in Iran reached 16.1 million tons during the mentioned six months, registering a 4.8 percent increase year on year, the report said.

The WSA put the crude steel output by the world’s top 64 producers at about 943.9 million tons in the mentioned time span, 1.1 percent less than the figure for the previous year’s first half.

The Islamic Republic stood at 10th place among the world’s biggest steel producers in the first half of 2022.

Iran’s monthly crude steel output stood at 3.2 million tons in June, indicating an increase of 17.4 percent compared to the figure for June 2022. The world’s producers managed to produce 158.8 million tons of steel in the said month to register a 0.1-percent drop year on year.

Iran maintained its place as the world’s seventh steelmaker in June, according to the WSA report.

The country climbed to seventh place among the world’s top steel-producing countries for the first time in May.

The previous report released by the WSA showed that Iran’s crude steel output increased 8.8 percent in the mentioned month while the global average growth rate stood at – 5.1 percent.

Based on the WSA data, Iran produced 3.3 million tons of crude steel in May 2023.

As reported, the Islamic Republic’s steel production also registered a 2.2 percent growth in the first five months of 2023 compared to the same period in the previous 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).

EF/MA