Page 59 - IRANRptNov21

9.1.11 Metallurgy & mining sector news
Iranian cement market expands by one third in September to 5.7mn tonnes
Iran reports gains in aluminium ingot production and steel ingot exports
Iran’s iron ore discoveries ‘grow by billion tonnes in six years’
The Iranian cement market expanded by 34% m/m to 5.72mn tonnes in September from 4.27mn tonnes, according to the Iranian cement association, as reported by Cemnet (CN).
The country’s cement production reached 6.01mn tonnes in September, marking a 25.5% m/m gain, while clinker production stood at 6.83mn tonnes, up 34.4% m/m.
September exports of Iranian cement were reported as 0.89mn tonnes. The export figure for clinker was given as 0.4mn tonnes. In August, the cement and clinker export figures were 0.32mn tonnes and 0.44mn tonnes, respectively.
In late September, the Iran Mercantile Exchange (IME) set up another trading floor in cement.
Currently, more than 62 cement manufacturers offer their products on the Iran Mercantile Exchange (IME), with 52 of those companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE).
Iran produced 68.3mn tonnes of cement in the last Persian calendar year (ended March 20). In 2021, the annual production volume may reach over 70mn tonnes, official estimates project.
Annual consumption of cement in the country stands at around 65mn tonnes, while the annual export of the commodity exceeds 11mn tonnes.
Major aluminium production firms in the country produced 260,679 tonnes of aluminium ingots in the first half of the current Persian calendar year (March 21 to September 21), up 23% y/y, government data showed. Iran Alumina Company, Al-Mahdi Aluminum Production Co, IRALCO and SALCO produced the output.
The steel ingots industry, meanwhile, saw exports move up 36% y/y in the Persian first half to 3.495mn tonnes. The ingot types exported were slab, billet and bloom.
Previously released statistics showed that Iran’s major steel producers managed to produce more than 9.901mn tonnes of steel ingots in the first half, down 12% y/y.
Iran is presently the 10th largest steelmaker in the world, with World Steel Association (WSA) data showing crude steel production in the country expanded to 17.8mn tonnes during January-July, marking growth of 9.9% y/y. Other state data showed Iran’s major sponge iron manufacturers produced 14,527,920 tonnes of sponge iron in the Persian first half, showing a decline of 6% y/y.
Iran’s mining reserves are known to include 81 types of minerals. The reserves have been officially estimated as totalling around 60bn tonnes.
Around one billion tonnes of additional iron ore reserves have been identified in Iran over the past six years, according to the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (Imidro), as reported by Tehran’s Financial Tribune.
Total iron ore reserves reportedly stand at 2.74bn tonnes.
The newspaper report added that Imidro said explorations for more reserves were currently under way in 30 provinces, across 107 zones spread over 660,000 square kilometres.
59 IRAN Country Report November 2021 www.intellinews.com