Iran's acting minister for industry and mines Ali-Akbar Mehrabian has stated that eight Iranian semi-finished steel plant projects (each with a planned capacity of 800,000 mt per annum of billet, bloom, or slab) are to be transferred to the private sector.
Mr Mehrabian went on to say that more than 80 private sector enterprises have already given notification of their interest in acquiring the steel projects.
Contracts for the construction of five of the projects were signed in recent months, while the remainder are expected to be inked in the near future.