Domestic steelmakers need to
add value to their products and offer them at competitive prices to
secure a place in global markets, the chairman of Iranian Mines and
Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization said.
Mehdi Karbasian made the statement during the inauguration of Iran’s
first checkered steel sheet production line at Mobarakeh Steel Company
near Isfahan on Sunday, Financial Tribune’s sister newspaper
Donya-e-Eqtesad reported.
“Steel prices have fallen to $255 per ton and experts forecast this
figure to drop even lower to reach close to $240 per ton,” said
Karbasian, who is also a deputy minister of industries, mining and
trade.
The official noted that China’s dwindling economic growth and reduced
steel production and demand point to the tough competition ahead in the
race towards finding new steel markets.
“By improving quality, lowering production costs and creating more
value added, we can improve our standing in the global markets,”
Karbasian said.
“Considering Iran’s three main advantages of cheap energy, huge
reserves of iron ore and educated workforce, the steel industry has all
it needs to reach the target of 55 million tons of steel production a
year as per the 20-Year Vision Plan (2005-25).”
Bahram Sobhani, CEO of Mobarakeh Steel Company, who was also present
at the ceremony, said three steel products with value added are
currently manufactured by the company, namely cold-rolled sheets used in
auto-manufacturing, sheets used in oil and gas pipes and checkered
steel sheets.
Sobhani emphasized that MSC’s checkered steel sheets meet the global
quality standards of DIN (German Institute for Standardization) and are
capable of being presented in international markets.
With a production capacity of 200,000 tons per year, the production
line is to manufacture checkered steel sheets with widths of 800 to
1,550 millimeters and thicknesses of 2 to 10 millimeters in the three
classes of ST44-2, ST37-2 and ST52-2.
Checkered steel sheets are used in making industrial stairways, bridges, automobiles, wagons, ships and ports.
Mobarakeh Steel Company, located in Isfahan Province, is the largest
steel producer in the Middle East and North Africa region and is one of
the biggest industrial complexes operating in Iran.
Production Downtrend
Amid the shrinking global demand, Iran’s giant steelmakers have cut back on production, IMIDRO reported on Monday.
According to the report, more than 9.5 million tons of crude steel in
the form of cast iron ingots, blooms, slabs and billets were produced
during the seven months ending Oct. 22, indicating a 2.8% decline
compared to the 9.8 million tons produced during last year’s similar
period.
Major producers include Mobarakeh Steel Company, which accounted for
more than 3.1 million tons of this figure; Khuzestan Steel Company
produced over 2.1 million tons; Isfahan Steel Company 1.3 million tons;
Hormozgan Steel Company 685,000 tons; Saba Steel Company 448,000 tons;
Khorasan Steel Company 391,000 tons; Iran Alloy Steel Company 169,000
tons and Iran National Steel Industrial Group produced 109,000 tons.
The cutback in production has given way to other steel products, as
more than 9.4 million tons of beams, coils, wide sheets, rebars,
galvanized auto sheets, hot-rolled sheets and pipes were produced during
the period, which indicates a 7.9% drop compared to last year.
The world’s 65 steel producing countries have also followed a downward
trend. According to the latest reports by World Steel Association,
close to 1.4 billion tons of crude steel were globally produced during
January-October, indicating a 2.5% fall compared to last year’s
corresponding period.