Page 49 - IRANRptFeb20

Iran's world rating remains unchanged, the figures suggest, despite the US sanctions imposed in May.
Overall, the country is in 10th place among the largest producers of raw steel in the world.
According to the new report, the country is located between Brazil (ninth place) with 14.02 million tonnes and Italy (11th place) with 10.47 million tonnes.
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.
9.1.12 ​Renewable energy sector news
Iran and Russia have signed a contract to construct a thermal power plant in southern Iranian Hormozgan province, according to Mehr News Agency. ​“Russia is to allocate a loan worth €1.2bn for the construction of 1,400-megawatt Sirik thermal power plant [in Sirik County],” Iran’s Energy Minister, Reza Ardakanian, was quoted as saying during a contract signing ceremony held in Tehran on September 15.
He added that the required construction sites and equipment for commencing the project would be provided within the next two months.
The project’s total cost has been estimated at €1.4bn. The provision of the loan had been sought for two years. Iran is to bear the remainder of the costs. Officials expect the plant to produce enough energy for 150,000 residential buildings.
According to Ardakanian, other projects set to leverage Russian capital include the construction of Inche Boroun-Garmsar railroad, expected to be completed by March 2020.
Russia has engaged in delivering other power installations in Iran including the Bushehr nuclear plant.
The Bushehr-2 expansion of the plant has been on the cards for several years. It was initially touted for completion by 2020. The plant is expected to generate 1,000 MW of electricity for southern parts of Iran.
Tehran and Moscow signed a contract for the expansion of the Bushehr site in 2014, a year after Russia got the first phase up and running, but both sides put Bushehr-2 on the back burner until the nuclear deal was signed in November 2015. Since the US unilaterally walked out of the accord in May 2018, foreign investments made in Iran generally have to take into account the threat of US sanctions.
9.1.13 ​Utilities sector news
The spokesman of Iraq's Electricity Ministry has said that Iraq is searching for alternatives to generate the electricity it needs, including developing its own natural gas production, because Iran is now exporting only a fraction of the natural gas agreed upon for the current year. ​Speaking to Al Sabah newspaper, Ahmed al-Abadi said Iran was currently exporting only around 3mn cubic metres of natural gas to Iraq out of the agreed 25 mcm quota for the current year.
According to an agreement signed between the two countries in 2011, Iran is obliged to deliver 50 mcm of natural gas to Iraq per day. But Iran's production is apparently not enough to satisfy domestic demand and meet the country’s full export commitments. Iraq heavily relies on Iranian natural gas imports to
49​ IRAN Country Report​ February 2020 www.intellinews.com