Dr. Mehdi Mohammadi, chairman of the Iranian Alloy Steel Producers Association, has disputed the latest figures published by the World Steel Association (worldsteel) regarding Iran’s ranking among the world’s leading steel-producing countries, according to local media reports.
Dr. Mohammadi said worldsteel recently indicated that Vietnam had moved into 10th place in global crude steel production in the first three months of the current year, with an output of 6.4 million mt, pushing Iran out of the top 10. However, citing data from the Iranian Alloy Steel Producers Association, which he said is consistent with figures released by other official domestic bodies, Dr. Mohammadi stated that Iran’s crude steel output totaled 7.26 million mt in the final quarter of the Iranian year 1404, a period broadly corresponding to the first quarter of 2026. He noted that Iran’s output was 860,000 mt higher than Vietnam’s reported production, meaning that Iran remains the world’s 10th largest steel producer.
Dr. Mohammadi explained that the first quarter of 2026 covers the period from January 1 to March 31, while Iran reports its official steel production figures according to the Iranian calendar. He added that Iran continues to rank behind Brazil, whose crude steel output totaled 8.1 million mt in the same period.
The association chairman also said that, in order to preserve Iran’s position in the global steel industry and avoid negative effects on the domestic steel market, downstream industries and related businesses, steel producers should be exempt from electricity and gas consumption restrictions this year.
He added that Iran’s crude steel production exceeded 32 million mt in 2024, while the country’s steelmaking capacity utilization rate was just 63 percent. According to Dr. Mohammadi, uninterrupted electricity and gas supplies are necessary to improve capacity utilization in Iran’s steel sector.
Dr. Mohammadi further stated that Vietnam, which ranked 11th among global steel producers in 2025 with an output of 24.7 million mt, increased its crude steel production by 10 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2026. He warned that Vietnam could overtake Iran in the global steel production ranking in the coming months if Iran’s steel sector does not receive stable energy supplies.
