The Doctor. Mehdi Mohammadi, chairman of the Iranian Alloy Steel Manufacturers Association, disputed the latest data published by the World Steel Association (worldsteel) regarding Iran's place among the leading steel producing countries, according to local media reports.
Doctor. Mohammadi said that Worldsteel recently indicated that Vietnam moved to the 10th place in global crude steel production in the first three months of this year with a production volume of 6.4 million tons, displacing Iran from the top ten. However, citing data from the Iranian Alloy Steel Manufacturers Association, which he said was consistent with data published by other official domestic organizations, Dr. Mohammadi stated that crude steel production in Iran amounted to 7.26 million tons in the last quarter of the Iranian year 1404, a period broadly corresponding to the first quarter of 2026. He noted that Iran's production was 860,000 tons higher than Vietnam's reported production, which means Iran remains the 10th largest steel producer in the world.
Doctor. Mohammadi explained that the first quarter of 2026 covers the period from January 1 to March 31, with Iran reporting its official steel production data according to the Iranian calendar. He added that Iran is still lagging behind Brazil, whose steel production totaled 8.1 million tons over the same period.
The chairman of the association also stated that in order to maintain Iran's position in the global steel industry and avoid negative consequences for the domestic steel market, processing industries and related enterprises, steel producers should be exempt from restrictions on electricity and gas consumption this year.
He added that Iran's crude steel production has exceeded 32 million tons. In 2024, while the country's steel capacity utilization rate was only 63 percent. According to Dr. Mohammadi, uninterrupted supply of electricity and gas is necessary to improve capacity utilization in Iran's steel sector.
Dr. Mohammadi further stated that Vietnam, which ranked 11th among global steel producers in 2025 with a production volume of 24.7 million tons, increased steel production by 10 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026. He warned that Vietnam could overtake Iran in the global steel production rankings in the coming months if Iran's steel sector does not receive stable energy supplies.
