TEHRAN- Production of steel products in Iran hit over six million tons during the first five months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-August 21), which was two percent higher than the figure of the same period of time in the past year, IRNA reported.

In a bid to prevent the exports of unprocessed minerals, creating more value-added and meeting the requirements of domestic producers for the raw materials, Iran has levied a 25-percent duty on the exports of raw minerals (especially iron ore) since September 23, 2019.

Industry Ministry believes that the duty is going to encourage the production of more processed minerals such as pellets and concentrate instead of selling the raw minerals.

As the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO) has announced, Iran’s annual steel ingot production is planned to increase 3.2 million tons in the current Iranian calendar year (ends on March 2021).

The country has defined 16 development projects in the steel sector to boost the output of steel products by 17.3 million tons in five years.

MA/MA