Iran biggest Mideast steel producer

Tehran, Jan 24, IRNA – Iran topped steel producers in the Middle East in 2014, according to latest figures released by the World Steel Association (WSA) on Saturday. The volume of Iran's steel production reached 16.331 million tons in 2014, showing a 5.9 percent increase compared with the same period in 2013 when the amount stood at 15.422 million tons, the report added. Iran also ranked 14th among major steel producing countries in the world. In related news, Managing Director of Isfahan Steel Mill Company Ardeshir Saad Mohammadi said products of the industrial complex increased by 52% in the first half of the current Iranian calendar year (started March 21, 2014) in comparison with the same period last year. He told reporters that Isfahan Steel Mill Company produced 932 thousand tons of crude steel in the first half of the past year which was increased to 1.412 million tons this year. However, he added, the average world production of steel stands at five million tons, and with implementation of projects the company can reach that average by the year 1400 (2021-2022). Chinese investors have also voiced desire to invest in Iran's steel industry while trade between Iran and China in the past year was estimated at $45bln. Iran is currently China's third largest supplier of crude, providing Beijing with roughly 12 percent of its total annual oil consumption.