Self-sufficiency of more than 90% of the steel chain; Exports under the pressure of sanctions

A member of the Steel Association announced that more than 90% of the needs of the steel chain are met in the country and said: "The development of domestic capabilities and localization of equipment has minimized the dependence of this industry on imports."

According to Mehr reporter, Alireza Ebrahimi, a member of the Iranian Steel Manufacturers Association, in a meeting to explain the latest situation of the steel production chain, referring to the economic pressures and restrictions caused by sanctions, said: "The country's steel industry has been able to reach a high level of self-sufficiency by developing internal capabilities over the past years; So that more than 90% of the needs of the steel chain are provided inside the country.

Stating that the development of supporting industries has made it possible to manufacture a significant part of the complex parts and equipment needed by this industry, he added: Currently, only about five percent of the specialized parts used in the control and precision instruments sectors are dependent on foreign countries. Of course, these equipments generally have a long service life and do not require continuous replacement.

Supply of steel raw materials mainly from domestic sources

This steel industry activist, referring to the domestic capacities in providing raw materials, said: the major part of the steel industry's need for raw materials is provided from within the country, and the required iron ore is almost completely extracted from domestic mines. However, due to the limitation in the amount of production and the quality of some products, a part of the required coal and coke is still provided through imports.

Ebrahimi continued: The use of alternative methods and the use of natural gas have helped to compensate for some of the limitations and maintain balance in the production process. It cannot be claimed that the war and embargo have not caused any damage to the steel industry, but despite these pressures, the activity of this industry continues and the flow of production and economic activities have not stopped.

The continuation of steel exports in the shadow of banking and transportation restrictions

A member of the Iranian Steel Manufacturers Association, pointing to the difficulties facing the export of steel products, said: The country's steel industry has been facing financial and banking sanctions for more than two decades. These restrictions have disrupted the normal flow of business transactions and the possibility of risk management between buyers and sellers, and have made the use of instruments such as letters of credit (LC) difficult.

He added: Economic restrictions and obstacles created in the way of transportation and exit of goods from the country have also put additional pressure on exports. However, during the past years, a network of business communication has been formed, which has made it possible to manage some of these problems. For this reason, despite the relative decrease in exports, the process of exporting steel products has not stopped and alternative routes are still being developed.

Emphasizing that the export target should be determined according to the market conditions, Ebrahimi said: the amount of export and supply of steel products in the domestic market depends on a set of economic variables and it is not possible to determine a specific figure for direct export without considering these factors.

He pointed out that the greater the gap between the free exchange rate and the exchange rate used in official mechanisms, the more the motivation of producers to export directly and return the resulting currency increases.

Emphasis on increasing water efficiency in the steel industry

A member of the Iranian Steel Producers Association, also referring to the challenge of water removal in the steel industry, said: The location of steel units is based on the two factors of access to mineral resources and water resources. According to him, the establishment of new industries in the southern coasts of the country is emphasized in the framework of sea-oriented development policies, and future developments should rely on the import of raw materials from the sea due to the limitation of internal mineral reserves.

Stating that the main criterion in evaluating water consumption is its productivity, he added: Water consumption in the steel production chain reaches about four to five cubic meters per ton of product and creates significant economic value. In contrast, the production of each ton of pistachios consumes about 230 cubic meters of water; Therefore, the allocation of water resources should be done considering the added value and economic productivity of different sectors.

Ebrahimi also announced the reduction of water consumption in the steel industry by using recycling technologies and closed circuits and said: Water consumption in the process of cooling and freezing ingots in domestic units has decreased to about one to two cubic meters per ton. He emphasized that the high cost of transporting water from the Persian Gulf and the use of treated wastewater has made the use of low-consumption technologies an economic necessity for the steel industry.

reduction of electricity pressure in summer; Worried about gas restrictions in winter

The member of the Iranian Steel Producers Association further pointed out the challenges of energy supply in the steel industry and said: the improvement of climatic conditions, increase of rainfall and readiness of hydroelectric power plants caused the electricity imbalance in the summer of 1405 to be less severe compared to the difficult and damaging summer of 1404.

At the same time, he warned about the gas supply situation in the coming winter and added: "The conditions of this winter are more complicated." Because part of the country's gas production resources have been damaged and it is not possible to directly compensate these capacities in the short term.

Referring to the structural dependence of direct regeneration units on natural gas, Ebrahimi clarified: these units need a specific chemical composition of natural gas to carry out the production process, and its replacement with other fuels is simply not possible. On the other hand, creating alternative infrastructure also requires considerable time and investment.

He considered consumption management to be the most important solution to overcome possible energy restrictions and said: Saving gas consumption, especially in the household sector, can play a decisive role in maintaining the stability of industrial production. If the consumption of gas in the household sector is reduced by about 10%, it will be possible to better meet the needs of the industrial sector and it will be possible to prevent the stoppage of production units in the cold season of the year.

Investment of more than 7 billion dollars in the country's steel chain

In another part of his speech, Ebrahimi announced the development of the production capacities of the steel industry and stated: Following the investment of more than seven billion dollars in the mining and steel value chain, the country's steel production capacity has exceeded 40 million tons.

He added: This amount of investment has provided the basis for the formation and development of more than 40 large industrial complexes in the steel chain and has led to the creation of direct employment in this sector.

Referring to the role of investment in the development of the country's production infrastructure, this steel industry activist emphasized: the expansion of industrial capacities and the strengthening of domestic capacity in providing equipment and raw materials are effective factors in the continuation of the activity of the steel industry in the conditions of sanctions and economic restrictions.