Iran continued to churn out more steel in May despite a decline in the global steel output as the country moved up three places to seventh in the global ranking of large steel producers, according to figures by the World Steel Association (worldsteel).
Worldsteel figures cited in a Monday report by the IRIB News showed that Iran’s steel output had reached 3.3 million metric tons (mt) in May, up 8.8% from May 2022.
The figures showed that global steel production had dropped by 5.1% year on year in May to reach 161.6 million mt mainly because of lower prices of steel in the international markets, said the report, adding that the price of Iranian-made slab, a semi-finished steel product, had fallen by an average of 17% in the April-May period.
Iran, Russia, India and Germany, however, were the four notable steel producers who reported growth in production in May, said the report.
Just like Iran, Russia’s steel output rose by 8.8% year on year in May while India managed to raise its production by 4.1% and Germany by 0.2% over the period, it added.
Iran trailed India in terms of growth in steel output in January-May with a 2.2% year on year increase in production over the five-month period, according to worldsteel figures.
Iran was the seventh largest steel producer in the world in May, behind South Korea in the sixth position. The IRIB News said the position is a first for Iran as the country normally came 10th in worldsteel ranking in recent years.
The five largest steel producers of the world in May were China, India, Japan, the United States and Russia, said the report.