Reduction in production of steel factories due to lack of gas/ Minister Sammat’s order to provide fuel for steel products

Saifullah Amiri, in an interview with the economic correspondent of Fars news agency, about the latest situation of steel production and the chain of products of this industry in the country, said: Steel producing factories are facing the problem of fuel supply, and currently many manufacturing factories in this sector are closed due to lack of fuel. Gas is partially closed.

* Serious problem of lack of gas for steel factories

The Director General of the Mineral Industries Office of the Ministry of Industry, Mining and Trade added: Gas supply has become a serious problem for steel producers and While 40 million cubic meters of gas per day was supposed to be considered for steel factories, this amount was reduced to 15 million cubic meters, and recently, according to a letter from the National Gas Company, this amount was reduced to 10 million cubic meters..

He stated that according to the plans of the Ministry of Oil, 1 billion 450 million cubic meters of gas should be produced in the country every day, and said: this is despite Currently, 850 million cubic meters of gas are produced daily, of which 550 to 650 million cubic meters are used for households, about 120 million cubic meters are used for power plants, and the rest are used for production.

Amiri stated: Although the production should move the economic wheels of the country, but the amount of gas dedicated to it is not according to the needs of the production units.

* There is no problem in supplying iron pellets and concentrates

Regarding the production situation of the steel chain, he said: There are enough iron pellets and concentrates in the country, and there are 11 million tons of surplus pellets in the warehouses, so the lack of gas, if it leads to a decrease in the production of these products, will harm these production sectors for now. has not delivered

* Request to supply 20 million cubic meters of gas for steel factories

Stating that there is no problem in the production of steel ingots, Amiri said: There is also a surplus of rebar in the country and no problem has arisen, but the lack of gas has reduced the production of sponge iron, so we expect the Ministry of Petroleum to supply at least 20 million cubic meters of gas per day. provide it to steel factories so that companies producing sponge iron can continue their production.

He said about the effect of gas shortage on the production and price fluctuation of steel products chain: In addition to the gas shortage which affects the amount of production, the psychological atmosphere surrounding the lack of fuel and currency price fluctuations can also affect the price fluctuations in the steel chain, so when If these three items are placed together, we will have an increase in price.

* Necessity of cooperation of the Ministry of Oil in supplying fuel to steel factories

The Director General of the Office of Mineral Industries of the Ministry of Samat said about the export of steel products: “There is no problem in the field of exports at the moment, but if we cannot produce, we may face a decrease in exports.”

Stating that we have been facing the problem of gas supply for the past three years, he said: “Last year, with the orders of Minister Samat, we successfully passed the problem of gas shortage for steel and cement factories. This year, Minister Samat issued orders regarding gas supply and production of steel products.” He said that, unfortunately, the Ministry of Petroleum is not doing enough to meet the needs of the industries.

* The need to push investors towards alloy steels, stainless steels and ferrosilico manganese

Regarding investment in the industry, he said: As the Director General of Mineral Industries of the Ministry of Security, considering the investments made and the establishment permits issued, as well as the country’s energy conditions, I recommend that investors instead of investing in the steel chain sector should invest in the production of needed goods. Countries where there is a shortage such as alloy steels, stainless steels and ferrosilico manganese.

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