Iran to stop steel imports next year: Iranian official

TEHRAN,Sept.16(MNA) - Iran will no longer need to import steel products next year once the underway steel production projects come on stream, the deputy industry minister stated. Reza Fatemi-Amin told that some 7 million tons of crude steel is imported annually. On September 4, Industry, Mine, and Trade Minister Mehdi Ghazanfari said that a number of steel projects, with the total output of 12 million tons, are being implemented. Iran will become one of the world’s main steel exporters by March 2016, Ghazanfari said in May 2011. He added that despite global economic sanctions, the country’s steel output increased by 5 million tons during the past two years, reaching 17 million tons. Iran produced over 6.25 million tons of crude steel during the first five months of this Iranian year, which began on March 20, showing an 8.8 percent growth year on year. Some 7.2 million tons of steel products were also manufactured in the five-month period, almost equal to the previous year’s total output.