Iran's steel industry needs about Eur22.1 billion ($27.4 billion) new investment to achieve a target of 55 million mt/year of production capacity by 2025, the the Iranian Steel Producers' Association said in a report.
About Eur13.39 billion should be invested in infrastructure projects, including Eur5.05 billion for new railroads and Eur3.3 billion for power generation. About Eur8.2 billion should be invested directly into steelmaking and raw materials development, ISPA said.
Iran formed a plan in 2014 to boost annual steel production capacity to 55 million mt within 10 years.
According to ISPA, Iran's crude steel nominal capacity was currently 31.62 million mt/year, while practical production in the last Iranian year (which ended March 20) was estimated at 22 million mt. Overall nominal capacity is 44.8 million mt/year, including rolling mill output.
Iran, whose nominal iron ore production capacity is 80 million mt/year, has proven iron ore reserves of 3.1 billion mt, which were expected to be consumed by 2035. Iran's ore reserves were estimated at 5 billion mt, with an average Fe content of 46%, according to the report.
Iran's steel development plan is based on utilizing direct reduced iron (DRI), so energy consumption is considerable at 9.49 million cu m of natural gas per year. That will rise to 17.1 million cu m to meet the 2025 production target, according to the ISPA report.
