Iran has announced the imposition of a customs duty of 30 percent on exports of semi-finished products (billets, blooms, slabs) of steel.
The high demand for steel in the local market and also the large rolling capacity in the country which has remained unused due to the shortage of semi-finished products have encouraged the Iranian government to impose the duty in question.
Iran exported about half a million mt of semi-finished products in the last Iranian year, while the export volume exceeded one million mt a few years ago when local demand had not yet recorded much growth.