Page 46 - IRANRptJun19

Iranian steel and other metals into your ports will no longer be tolerated," the US president said in a statement.
Trump said Tehran "can expect further actions unless it fundamentally alters its conduct". He added that he looks forward to "meeting with the leaders of Iran in order to work out an agreement and, very importantly, taking steps to give Iran the future it deserves".
Iran’s leaders have shown no sign of any willingness to meet with Trump, saying he owes their country an apology for the “illegal” sanctions regime targeted at the Islamic Republic.
The US is unilaterally attempting to throttle Iran’s economy in order to force concessions on its Middle East activities and policies. The sanctions have thrown Iran back into recession while causing a collapse in the value of the Iranian rial (IRR) and driving up inflation.
Trump’s executive order targets the Iranian iron, steel, aluminium and copper sectors in hopes of denying the Iranian government the ability to "provide funding and support for the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, terrorist groups and networks, campaigns of regional aggression, and military expansion," according to Trump. "It remains the policy of the United States to deny Iran all paths to both a nuclear weapon and intercontinental ballistic missiles, and to counter the totality of Iran's malign influence in the Middle East."
Where Iran’s nuclear programme is concerned, the UK, France, Germany, Russia and China, unlike the US remain committed to the 2015 nuclear deal . The other matters cited by Trump should be discussed and dealt with separately, they say. Critics argue it is the US that is acting like a “rogue” nation, rather than Iran. The major powers that remain signed up to the nuclear deal, as well as UN atomic inspectors, say Iran has remained in compliance with the accord since it came into effect at the start of 2016 and despite the economic attack launched by the US.
Iranian crude steel production amounted to 4.245mn tonnes in the first two months of 2019, marking a 7.6% y/y increase and keeping Iran in 11th place in the world steel volumes league, latest World Steel Association (WSA) data shows.
The devaluation of the Iranian rial (IRR) by around 70% against the dollar in the face of US sanctions may have helped steel producers in Iran as regards labour costs, which are now cheaper than they are for other steel producers such as China and Russia.
All of Iran’s steel output gain must have come in January as the WSA data showed output down 9.6% y/y at 2.015mn tonnes in February.
The association put global steel output at 287.609mn tonnes during the two months, up 3.7% y/y.
9.1.12 Renewable energy sector news
Iran’s nominal electricity production capacity has reached 80,000 megawatts (MW), with several small and medium sized power plants having been brought online around the country in recent months, Tasnim News Agency has reported.
Like its predecessor Ahmadinejad administration, the Rouhani administration has supported the development of several different types of power generation models for the vast country of 80mn people through public-private partnership projects. Nuclear, gas, hydroelectric, solar and wind power have been the most popular choices in recent years.
46 IRAN Country Report June 2019 www.intellinews.com