According to the latest report from the World Steel Association (WSA), Iran has successfully maintained its position as the world’s 10th largest steel producer. Despite global challenges, Iran’s steel sector has demonstrated resilience, driven by continued investment in new technologies and improved production efficiencies.
Iranian steel producers have achieved a production milestone of 28 million tons of crude steel in the past 11 months of 2024, marking a 0.5% increase compared to the same period in 2023. In November 2024 alone, Iran produced 3.1 million tons of crude steel, slightly up by 0.1% from November 2023. This indicates a stable steel output despite the fluctuating market conditions and supply chain challenges.
Looking at the overall 2024 figures, Iran's crude steel production was projected to reach approximately 30.5 million tons by the end of the year, which is attributed to several key factors, including the continued expansion of existing steel mills, investment in modernization projects, and the introduction of more efficient production technologies.
Apart from promoting production, the Iranian industrial areas have been focusing on sustainable development, with initiatives aimed at enhancing energy efficiency. To promote energy conservation and reduce consumption, advanced technologies such as VPSA/PSA oxygen generation are gradually being applied on a large scale in industries such as steel, non-ferrous metallurgy, and chemistry. In 2024, PKU Pioneer’s first VPSA oxygen generation project in Iran (with a capacity of 20,000Nm³/h and a purity of 70%) is currently under construction and is expected to be officially commissioned in 2025 to optimize the manufacturing process of soda ash. While PKU Pioneer won the bid through its strong brand reputation worldwide, it is one of the few large-capacity VPSA industrial oxygen units Iran imported from China.
On the other hand, in 2024, China experienced a 2.7% decline in steel production, while India, Germany, Turkey, and Brazil saw significant increases, with Turkey achieving the highest growth among the top 10 global producers.
In 2024, PKU Pioneer collaborated with a leading non-ferrous metallurgy company in Turkey to optimize and upgrade its oxygen generation equipment for copper smelting by providing our self-developed and self-produced oxygen molecular sieve adsorbent PU-8. The oxygen system project achieved a successful first-time startup and was successfully put into operation, which not only marked the entry of PKU Pioneer's brand into the Iranian and Turkish markets but also laid the foundation for further business expansion in the Middle East and neighboring regions.
So far, PKU Pioneer has received multiple inquiries and demands from clients in Iran's steel, non-ferrous metallurgy, and petrochemical fields. As Iran continues to expand its industrial capacity and modernize production processes, PKU Pioneer, leveraging its technological expertise and extensive experience from nearly 400 oxygen generation projects worldwide, will provide more users in Iran with cost-effective, efficient, and reliable oxygen supply solutions to drive high-quality development in industrial production together.
