Posted on 22 Nov 2018
Iranian apparent finished steel consumption fell -4% on-year in the seven months through 22 October to 11.3 million tonnes, deepening from a -3% decline after six months. This is according to Iranian Steel Producers’ Association (ISPA) data published on ISPA’s online Chilan portal, monitored by Kallanish.
Rebar was the only product to see consumption growth, of 8% to 3.55mt. Hot rolled coil and cold rolled coil use fell -4% and -8% respectively to 4.56mt and 613,000t.
Consumption of billet and bloom, and slab, however, rose 30% and 29% respectively to 6.19mt and 5.18mt.
Direct reduced iron consumption increased 22% to 14.83mt.
On seven-month exports, meanwhile, billet and bloom shipments rose 1% to 1.81mt, compared to 0% growth after six months, while slab exports dropped -24% to 1.31mt, versus a -23% six-month drop.
Finished product exports soared 135% to 1.62mt, slowing slightly from 138% six-month growth. Hot rolled coil below 3mm thick recorded the largest growth, reaching 171,000t. Straightened rebar comprised 429,000t, up 160% and rebar in coil 363,000t, up 136%. Shipments of HRC above 3mm thick rose 56% to 305,000t.
DRI exports fell -21% to 374,000t.
Finished steel imports, meanwhile, fell -48% in the seven months to 633,000t.
In terms of production, Iranian seven-month billet and bloom output rose 22% to 7.7mt and slab production grew 13% to 6.49mt. Finished steel output rose 9% to 12.34mt. DRI production increased 21% to 15.2mt.
