Iran’s crude steel output up 11.6 percent

TEHRAN,Jan.1 (MNA)--Iran produced over10.3 million tons of crude steel in the first nine months of the current calendar year (ended December 21, 2011), showing 11.6 percent rise compared with the same period last year. According to the World Steel Association, Iran was the second leading steel producer in the Middle East in 2010 after Turkey. Iran also ranked 7th among the Asian producers. Iran will become one of the world’s main steel exporters by March 2016, Industry, Mine and Trade Minister Mehdi Ghazanfari said in May. Iran plans to reach the production capacity of 42 million tons per year by the end of the Fifth Five-Year Socio-Economic Development Plan (March 2016). According to Ghazanfari, the nation’s steel production capacity is currently 19 million tons annually