The inauguration ceremony for the construction of a new semi finished steel mill in the northwestern Iranian city of Mianeh was held at the end of last week.
The new mill, named Mianeh Steel Mills, will be equipped with Midrex DRI, an EAF and a continuous billet caster with a capacity of 800,000 metric tons a year.
Since the new mill will be located in close proximity to another Iranian mill, Azarbaijan Steel Complex, which has an annual production capacity of 500,000 metric tons of rebar and angles, the authorities are considering the possibility of incorporating the new mill into its neighbor. Yet, regardless of the government's decision on the issue, Mianeh Steel will be the main supplier of billets and blooms to Azarbaijan Steel Complex.
The construction work on the new steel mill, which commenced at the site two months ago, is expected to be completed within a three-year period and will require an estimated Rial 3.34 trillion ($365 million) in investments.
Although, the new mill is currently 100 percent state-owned, a 51 percent stake will be transferred to the private sector in the future.
The Mianeh Steel construction project is a part of the Iranian government's plans to establish eight steel plants, each with a capacity of 800,000 mt per year.
For further information on the above-mentioned Iranian government plans, please see: Iran government pushes forward steel mill investments.