Page 23 - Buy Russia - bne IntelliNews monthly magazine April 2017

bne AMparicl h20210717 Companies & Markets I 23
In March, CoinDesk released its latest “State of Blockchain” report, which revealed that venture capital funding for blockchain startups rose sharply in the fourth quarter of 2016 to $75mn, taking the total amount of blockchain VC funding for 2016 to $496mn. Over the past six months, there were over 25 invest- ments in blockchain startups, with five for greater than $10m. All but one of the recent large investments have been in startups with a multi-blockchain business model – ie. those outside the bitcoin blockchain – whereas a year ago, none of them were.
So far this year there have been two significant investments: Align Commerce (to be rebranded as Veem) raised $24mn in March, while The Bitfury Group raised $30m in January in a deal which includes an investment in Bitfury shares and the establishment of a joint venture focusing on the China market.
The development of the GBBC demonstrates not only the increased enthusiasm for blockchain technology, but also
Trade
Iran bares its steel teeth
Will Conroy in Prague
When steel lobby group Eurofer declared that Iranian steel exports had become a “threat” to European producers, many in Iran’s developing steel industry could have regarded it as a compliment. But should EU offi- cials conclude their ongoing investigation into alleged Iranian dumping of hot-rolled coil shipments with a “guilty” verdict, those who have in years of late put in a lot of hard work into re-establishing Iran’s steel industry will not be so pleased.
Iran’s steel industry seems now on the point of a real break- through on international markets. Brussels-headquartered Eurofer and its members seem startled by the latest data showing Iranian steel exports into Europe grew nearly eight- fold between 2013 and 2016 to just over 1mn tonnes annually, placing Iran third behind India (1.9mn tonnes) and China (5.7mn tonnes).
The industry has literally been through the wars since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and never quite become the global heavyweight its advocates have long said it could be. During the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq conflict, the development of the Iranian steel industry lost impetus, and air raid damage
a shift towards geographical diversity within the blockchain ecosystem.
Noelle Acheson, a member of CoinDesk’s product team, identified this geographical shift from trends in recent deals. “Take a look at the investors in the rounds greater than $10m over the past six months. One of the investors in Veem was SBI Holdings, a Japanese investment arm. The sole investor in the BitFury round was Credit China Fintech Holdings. Asian investors were present in only one – Block- stream – of the large rounds in the same period a year ago. While the sample size is admittedly not large, the fund-
ing rounds over the coming months are likely to confirm this trend: an emphasis on business models that blend blockchains, and greater geographical diversification – all signs of a growing and maturing sector,” Acheson said.
greatly delayed the construction of the 2.35mn tonnes/year Ahvaz Steel Complex. After 1988, annual steel output expan- sion did eventually take off, with production soaring from less than 1mn tonnes to 6.6mn tonnes in 2000, making Iran the 23rd largest producer.
By the end of 2015, production stood at 16.1mn tonnes, put- ting Iran 14th among steel-producing countries, according to the World Steel Association. Iranian Ministry of Industry, Min- ing and Trade figures show output rose towards 18m tonnes in 2016, and the government plans to become the world number six by 2025 by boosting output capacity to 55mn tonnes/year. This would put Iran well above Turkey (ranked ninth in the world with 31.5mn tonnes in 2015), which presently out-pro- duces all countries in the Middle East.
If that grand ambition is achieved, Tehran would expect the industry eight years from now to be exporting 20mn-25mn tonnes/year, far exceeding what is shipped now. Official figures show approximately 4.4mn tonnes of crude steel and steel products were exported in the 10 months to January 19, marking 45% y/y growth.
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