Iran exported 2 million tonnes of steel and steel products in the four months from March 20 displaying a 67 per cent growth compared to the figure of 1.2 million tonnes for the same period in 2015, said a report.

Iran also exported mine and mineral industries products worth $2.4 billion during the four-month period, Mahdi Karbasian, managing director of Iranian Mines and Mining Industries
Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO), was quoted as saying in an Iran Daily News report.

He added that four direct-reduced iron (DRI) plant will be established in the country by mid-March 2017.

Karbasian further noted that the annual capacity of sponge iron production will increase by 3.2 million tonnes.