Page 53 - IRANRptNov18

estate and food delivery.
Alounak, a website created in conjunction with the Realtors Association of Iran and one of the later entrants to the online scene, has struggled in recent months to gain market traction against competitors like Divar.ir which is currently leading the pack for online listings including property and personal items. Sheypoor stands as the second largest listings website on the Iranian market. Alireza Ashkan, CEO of Alounak, reportedly said: “The firm’s merger with Sheypoor is moving ahead as planned.”
Despite investment from foreign companies like Germany's Rocket Internet, several online businesses in Iran have faced a challenging year, due to the severe devaluation of the Iranian rial (IRR) and the shrinking purchasing power in the country. Alounak was originally created in part as a move to tackle the dominance of Divar.ir which had become one of the de facto websites for listing properties, causing consternation among traditional real estate brokers and agents who saw business dwindling.
9.2.6 Metallurgy & mining corporate news
Iranian steel exports rose 5% y/y to 3.1bn tonnes in the first five months of the current Iranian year (March 21 to July 22), IRNA reported on September 16. Iran’s steel companies produce much of their output for local delivery, including to auto manufacturing and machinery production customers. However, with the recent collapse of the Iranian rial against hard currencies, foreign buyers saw their opportunity and stepped up their purchases before US sanctions snapped back into place in early August.
Industry in the Islamic Republic performed robustly prior to the general decline in economic indicators across the board that took hold after US President Donald Trump in early May announced he was unilaterally reimposing heavy sanctions against Tehran in an attempt at throttling the Iranian economy to force Iran’s leaders to renegotiate the nuclear deal and their country’s role in Middle East affairs.
Khuzestan Steel Company is Iran’s largest steel exporter. It accounted for one-third of steel exports from Iran in the five-month period.
The value of Iran’s steel exports in the 2017/2018 Persian year was €8.9bn. The figure forecast by the industry for the 2018/2019 year is €10.7bn. According to the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO), more than 21.8mn tonnes of crude steel was produced in 2017/2018 Persian year.
IMIDRO said Iran ranked in 13th place for steel production among the 65 leading steel manufacturers around the world. Early last year, European steel lobby group Eurofer stepped up its complaints against Iranian steel exports that it said were becoming a threat to European producers.
53 IRAN Country Report November 2018 www.intellinews.com