Iran moved up three places in the global ranking of top steel producers to seventh position in November with a total output of 2.9 million metric tons (mt), according to a report published in the local media.
The Wednesday report by semi-official Fars news agency cited figures by an industry source which showed that Iran’s November steel production had exceeded outputs reported by traditional rivals Turkey, Germany and Brazil.
Mohammad Saeidi said that Iran’s steel output had increased by 8.5% year on year in November, despite a 3.7% average decline reported in the global steel production.
He said European countries had started to place major orders for Iranian steel shipments amid the global crunch for the metal.
Iran was the 10th largest steel producer in the world before mid-summer when the country started to post historic rises in output.
Government figures released at the end of August showed Iran’s steel production had risen by 65% compared with August 2021.
Major steel producers in Europe have reported steep declines in output in November mainly because of a shoratge in natural gas supplies that has been caused by the war in Ukraine.
Steel production by European Union countries dropped by an average of 10.1% year on year in November as top supplier Germany reported a fall of 7.9% in output over the period.
Non-EU steel producers also reported an 11.2% drop in output in November compared to the same month last year while US production fell 5.5% over the same period.