Iran steel products output up 13.4%

Iran steel products output up 13.4%. 7.038 million tons of steel products have been produced from the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20) to November 8. The amount shows 13.4 percent increase in comparison to the same period previous year, the Mehr News Agency reported. Some 7.156 million tons of crude steel have also been produced in the mentioned period, which is 6.5 percent more than previous year’s figure. The International Iron and Steel Institute named Iran as the 16th largest steel producer in the world in 2009. The institute noted that Iran had advanced three places compared to 2008, Fars news agency reported. The Islamic Republic of Iran has outpaced Canada and the UK with producing 10.9 million tons of steel annually. China, Japan and Russia are the largest steel producers in the world with the annual 567 million tons, 87.5 million tons and 59.9 million tons of output respectively.