Iran exported a total of 530,000 tons of steel worth $90 million from March to July, a 71 percent increase over the corresponding period of the previous year, reported the official Iranian news agency, IRNA, on Saturday.
The managing director of the National Iranian Steel Co., Mostafa Momenzadeh, told IRNA that “this amount of steel -250,000 tons produced by the Khuzestan Steel Factory, 248,000 tons by the Mobarakeh Steel Complex and 32,000 tons by the Isfahan Steel Mill - was exported to 28 different countries all over the world."
He put the total steel production of the country during the first four and a half months of the current year at 2.6 million tons, which, he said, indicated seven percent growth compared to the amount produced the year before.
Predicting that by the end of this year, the country's steel production would reach seven million tons, he expressed hope that by the start of next year (March 21, 2002), domestic demand for iron bars, amounting to nearly two million tons, would be met by local steel manufacturers.
Referring to the country's abundance of raw materials, an experienced labor force as well as cheap energy resources as the advantages of local steel producers, he noted that Iran could easily compete with other countries, excluding Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan, which are great producers of low-quality steel in terms of price and quality – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
