On the sidelines of the World Steel Association's 46th annual meeting held in New Delhi on October 10th 2012 an expert from the Iranian steel industry said that one of the main challenges the Iranian steel industry is facing are the high costs which hinder the competitiveness of local steel producers as they cannot import raw materials directly due to the economic sanctions against the country which means longer lead times. Meanwhile, another challenge facing the Iranian domestic steel industry as pointed out by the expert is the country's high inflation rate.

While stating that Iranian steel production is increasing, as can be seen in worldsteel figures, the Iranian steel expert said that the country is still heavily dependent on steel billet imports with its annual billet imports reaching about 7 million tonnes mostly from Turkey, compared to its domestic steel production capacity of about 12.5 million tonnes. However as new capacities will come on stream in the coming period, Iran's self sufficiency will increase.

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