I-beam of 140-180 mm sizes are already transacting in the local Iranian market in a price range of $930-1,030/mt ex-stock Tehran for immediate delivery - marking a reduction of $20-50/mt compared with last week and constituting a decline of about $190-200/mt compared with mid-July when I-beam prices were at a peak. The larger I-beam sizes show a substantial fall of $150-230/mt.
Esfahan Steel, as the main local supplier of I-beam, sold 140-180 mm size material at $958/mt ex-works in its last supply through the Iran Mercantile Exchange (IME) on August 23. This price level marked a decrease thanks to market circumstances, both locally and globally. Nevertheless, in spite of the large price reduction seen in I-beam in recent weeks, local demand is not very strong, especially as most traders have hopes of a further price decline, and so are standing aside from market activity for the time being.
In addition to Esfahan steel, Arian Steel is another domestic I-beam producer with a capacity of about 500,000 mt per year. This privately-owned company commissioned its I-beam rolling mill in 2007 but is unable to work at full capacity due to the widespread shortage of bloom and billet in Iran.
Esfahan Steel and Iran National Steel Industrial Group (both state-owned) respectively produced 1,600,000 mt and 250,000 mt of I-beam in the last Iranian year (21.03.2007-20.03.2008 ). Iran compensates for the shortage of local I-beam production through imports, in recent years especially from the CIS and China. Iran imported about 1.2 million mt of I-beam in the last Iranian year; however, imports of I-beam in the last five months have fallen substantially if compared with the corresponding period of last year.