Iran’s steel scrap demand set to explode

Russia – The lifting of economic sanctions on Iran will offer enormous opportunities to suppliers of steel scrap. ‘By the year 2025, some 6 million tonnes of scrap will be needed in order to feed the growing steel industry in my country,’ forecasts Iranian metals industry specialist Alireza Jafarinejad.

Speaking at the Rusmet scrap metals conference held this week in Moscow, Jafarinejad confirmed that Iran’s steelmakers are to boost capacity and upgrade technology, for which expertise from Europe and elsewhere is more than welcome. ‘Thanks to the lifting of sanctions, the number of foreign trade missions has been growing rapidly over the past months,’ he said.

Steel production in Iran is growing rapidly. Looking at export rates, some 3 million tonnes of crude steel and steel products have been exported over the past 12 months, an increase of 23% over the prior period. At the Rusmet conference, Jafarinejad also pointed to the challenge associated with Iran becoming ‘more e-scrap focused’.

Although the country of 80 million people may have huge electronics recycling potential, the e-scrap collection infrastructure is still underdeveloped. ‘Moreover, there is no recycling culture,’ he said. While in many countries people take their old or broken refrigerators to a collection point for recycling, ‘in Iran, people put it in the basement where it is used as box room’.

A full review of the Rusmet conference will be featured in our upcoming April issue.