Iran still in world's top 10 steel producers
Iran is still among the world's biggest steel producers despite the stifling US sanctions on the country.
Iran has managed to maintain its global ranking among the top 10 steel producers in the world, a World Steel Association (WSA) report said on Saturday.
Iran produced 7.1 million tons of steel in the first quarter of 2023. Italy produced 5.6 million tons in this timespan.
The data indicate that Iran is still ranked as the 10th biggest steel-producing country in the world.
Following the release of a monthly report by the WSA, a number of media outlets speculated that Iran has been excluded from the list of top 10 steel producers, a claim that proved to be false, the Iranian Tasnim agency reported.
Iran produced two million tons of steel only in March 2023.
It was reported in February that Iran, ranking second after Malaysia, witnessed the highest growth in steel production in the world.
The countries whose steel production saw a surge in 2022 compared to 2021 are Iran, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Pakistan, Argentina, Algeria, and the UAE, according to a member of the board of directors of the Tehran iron and steel guild association.
With a 10.9% hike, Pakistan's growth stands in first place in steel production, while Malaysia and Iran have come second in this regard, Mohammad Sadegh Chitsaz, a member of the management board of Tehran Iron and Steel Union said.
The Iranian steel industry has been constantly advancing over the past few years regardless of all the obstacles imposed by outside forces, such as the US through its sanctions and the Covid-19 outbreak that severely affected the world's top producers.
Nevertheless, reports and statistics released by international bodies and Iranian sources reveal that the sanctions cannot affect Iran’s strong steel sector.