Tehran, Iran, March 25
Trend:
The head of Iran Steel Producers Association Rasoul Khalifeh-Soltani has announced the country's steel exports are expected to grow in the new Iranian year (started March 21,2019), due to its low prices and rise of production.
"Iran's steel price is the cheapest in the world and only China has the compatible price. The new Iranian year (started March 21, 2019) would be of good advantage for Iran's steel exports if there are no sanctions-related problems or money transferring issues," he said, Trend reports via IRNA.
Referring to the statistics from steel exports during the past 10 months of the last Iranian year (started March 21, 2018), Khalifeh-Soltani said that the general steel production had a 7-percent rise in this period, to 17.5 million tons.
"Due to domestic recession, construction cuts and reduced revenues, the domestic steel consumption has dropped but the rise of construction in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria would be beneficial for Iran's steel products," he said.
"The foreign exchange rate had tripled last year, therefore the low steel prices have led to rise of exports," he added.
"Considering foreign currency consumption, Iran's steel industry is not able to return $700 million -$1 billion of its surplus exports revenues to the country's economic cycle," he added.
Khalifeh-Soltani noted that while the foreign exchange rate has tripled in recent months, the price of steel for domestic consumers is not expensive.
Iran is among the ten biggest steel producers in the world with production capacity of 35 million tons. The country is expected to reach 55 million tons in 2025.
