Posted on 15 Sep 2020
Iranian billet and slab production rose 12% and 7% on-year respectively in the five months through 21 August to 7.07 million tonnes and 4.74mt, says the Iranian Steel Producers’ Association (ISPA) on its online Chilan portal. Crude steel output rose 10% to 11.82mt.
Billet output accelerated in the 21-August month, after it had grown 8% after four months, which pushed up crude steel output growth from 9% after four months. However, slab output slowed after 10% four-month growth, Kallanish notes.
Five-month finished steel output meanwhile grew 3% to 8.8mt, slowing from 5% four-month growth. This was despite long products output growth accelerating to 13%, to 4.61mt, with rebar and sections output up 15% and 14% respectively. Flats output slowed further, declining -6% to 4.19mt, despite a 2% growth in hot rolled coil production to 3.8mt. Cold rolled sheet output rose 5% to 1.14mt, but coated sheet output fell -14% to 619,000t.
Direct reduced iron output grew 11% in the five months to 12.88mt. This slowed from 12% growth after four months but still outpaced crude steel output, ensuring sufficient DRI supply for domestic steelmakers.
Source:Kallanish
