At present Iran has an annual demand of 15 million tons for steel, while the combined production of the country's steel plants is about 10 million tons per annum. Demand is increasing at a higher rate than supply in spite of all the development projects of the existing plants along with the construction of new plants which resulted in a continuous increase in production during recent years. The Iranian government together with the private sector, backed by rising petroleum prices, has launched many industrial construction projects which all require different types of steel. The construction sector which is managed mostly by the private sector, is showing a trend of rapid market demand growth after 4-5 years of depression. According to Iranian Custom House reports, during the last six months Iran has imported about 2,750,000 tons of steel worth around $1.5 billion. The same volume of imports is expected for the coming 6 months. However, the high demand for I-beam and debar during recent months has caused a rapid price increase in the Iranian market. Nowadays, the Iranian government, by means of omitting custom duties and stopping exports of I-beam, has succeeded in controlling the rising price of I-beam and debar. Nevertheless, the prices continue to remain above global level. At present, I-beam and debar have an average price of $750 and $650-670 respectively in the local market. Import statistics of steel for the last 6 months (21.03.2006-22.09.2006) issued by Iranian Custom House:
Product Metric tonnage Value US$
I-beam, H-beam 217,581 -
& profiles:
Round bar 179,328 79,855,000
(debar & plain bar):
HR coil/sheet: 758,124 502,777,000
CR coil/sheet: 418,998 269,826,000
HDG coil/sheet: 178,861 158,028,000
SS coil/sheet: 17,689 44,314,000
Alloy steel coil/sheet: 20,135 39,610,000
Carbon steel wire rod: 10,770 7,458,000
SS wire rod: 438 1,102,000
SS round bar: 1,691 4,120,000
SS profile: 880 1,534,000
SS billet: 2,196 996,000
Billet: 772,313 304,806,000
Ferro alloy: 20,341 18,573,000
Iron powder: 35,340 10,091,000
Steel scrap: 80,228 15,871,000