TEHRAN - Iranian steelmakers have managed to sell more shipments to foreign customers this year despite increased U.S. pressure on the country’s trade and banking relations with other countries.
Steel exports from the country had risen by 22% in the eight months to November 21 compared to the similar period last year to reach over 4.937 million tons, a report by Iran’s official IRNA news agency showed.
The best performer in steel exports over the March-November period was Khuzestan Steel Company (KSC) with more than 1.11 million tons of overseas shipments, said the report, adding that KSC’s exports had increased by 18% year on year.
Exports by Mobarakeh Steel Company (MSC), Iran’s largest steelmaker, totaled 0.815 million tons over the same period while shipments by Esfahan Steel Company reached nearly 0.767 million tons, showed figures in the report.
Iran’s state-run metals sector has experienced a considerable growth in recent years as it has become a main source of earning hard currency revenues for the government in the face of American sanctions targeting Iran’s oil exports.
Washington has imposed similar sanctions on Iran’s trade of metals but the bans have largely failed to affect the continuous growth in overseas shipments from the sector.
Iran sits on some of the world’s largest mineral reserves with current estimates suggesting that they can amount to around 60 billion tons. However, Iron ore reserves in the country are believed to be around 2.7 billion tons or 0.8% of the global reserves.
Recent figures by the Iran’s customs administration show that exports from the iron sector accounted for $4.5 billion or 14% of the total value of non-oil exports from the country in the March-November period.