[Ferro-Alloys.com] Three steel projects, which have been financed by China Metallurgical Group Corp (MCC), will come on stream in Iran in the current Iranian calendar year, which began on March 21, said Mehdi Karbasian, the managing director of the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO). 

He added that the four other projects will be inaugurated by December 2016, the Mehr news agency reported on Monday. 

The MCC Group has secured 1.8 billion euros of funding for the projects. 

Iran produced 4.089 million tons of crude steel in the first quarter of 2015, a 9.6 percent rise from 3.729 million tons in the first quarter of 2014, the World Steel Association said in its latest report, ranking the country first in the Middle East and 14th in the world.  

Iran says it has invested more than two billion dollars in its steel industry as the country plans to build new facilities to boost steel production capacity. 

Under the comprehensive plan, Iran’s steel production capacity will expand by 11.6 million tons per year. 

Official figures show that Iran produced 16.331 million tons of crude steel in 2014, a 5.9 percent rise from 15.422 million tons in 2013. 

Major raw steel producers of Iran are the Mobarakeh Steel Mill, with approximately 47 percent of the market share, the Khuzestan Steel Company with about 23 percent, the Isfahan Foundry with about 20 percent, and the Iran National Steel Industries Group with some 10 percent of the market share 

• [Editor:Yueleilei]