Iranian President Hassan Rouhani opened on Wednesday a new steel company with nominal capacity of 250,000 tons a year, a move that has generated 600 jobs, IRNA reported.
First phase of the Bisotoun Steel Company, in the west of Iran, was inaugurated on Wednesday by Rouhani while visiting the western Kermanshah Province.
The mill’s first phase, that includes smelting and casting units, has a nameplate capacity of 250,000 tons per year.
The Bisotoun Steel Company is set to have a Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) unit as well as a 15-megawatt power station in the near future.
The company will add 250,000 tons of steel to Iran’s annual output that increased 7.1% during the first three months of 2019, according to the World Steel Association (worldsteel).
Iranian steel mills produced a total of 6.22 million tons of crude steel during the first quarter of 2019, up 7.1% compared with the corresponding period of 2018, the report shows.
Iran is currently ranked 11th between Italy and Taiwan with 6.28 million and 5.81 million tons of crude steel production respectively.
This steel company has been constructed with an investment of nearly $155 million (based on the official exchange rate of 42,000 rials).
Given its location near the border with Iraq, Bisotoun Steel Company could also export much of its production to the western neighbour as well as Syria that are seeking to rebuild themselves after years of devastating war.
President of the Damascus Chamber of Industry (DCI) Samer al-Debs told Iran Chamber Newsroom that Syria is in urgent need of Iranian raw materials for its strategic industries.
Wathc video: DCI President talks about Syria's needs in reconstruction period
Iran has signed several agreements and Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with Iraq to help the country rebuild damaged infrstructure. Their annual bilateral trade stands at $12bn which both countries want to increase to $20bn in the next two years.
Hasan Danaifar, an economic advisor to the Iranian president says Tehran is using its experiences in boosting trade exchanges with Baghdad to strengthen its economic relations with Syria as well.
Watch video: Danaifar says groundwork has been laid to up Iran-Syria trade