Iran To Boost Annual Steel Output

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said his government plans to increase the country’s annual steel production to 48 million tons during the next five years.

Ahmadinejad, who was speaking at the inaugural ceremony of an iron ore concentrate production line in the Iranian eastern province of Khorasan Razavi on Friday, said Iran’s annual steel production, currently at 14 million tons, should reach 48 million tons in a period of four to five years, the English-language satellite Press TV reported Saturday, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

As a major steel producer in the region, Iran has boosted its steel mills to different parts of the country in recent years, with central Isfahan and southwestern Kouzestan provinces remaining the major steel producers in the country.