Sangan-Khorasan Steel Mining Industries Company (SSMIC) has approached the realization of production at the nominal capacity of its plant by breaking the record in concentrate production, thus enhancing its impact on the development of the country’s steel value chain.
According to the Public Relations report, in recent years, despite the rich sources of iron ore reserves, the steel industry has faced energy challenges and consequently the supply of raw materials, which in some cases has affected production. This has led steel companies to focus on upstream development as well as downstream development.
In this context, a complex like SSMIC is striving to increase its production despite the challenges faced by the country’s industry, ensuring the sustainable supply of the raw materials needed for its plants. One such measure is the increase in quality concentrate production, which ultimately leads to increased pellet production and product sales.
The growth trend of SSMIC has always been continuous, reaching from 320,600 tons per month in Farvardin (the first month of the Iranian calendar) to a record 450,130 tons in Ordibehesht (the second month of the Iranian calendar), and now we are witnessing a new record of 480,410 tons per month, showing a 6.8% growth compared to the previous record. Currently, SSMIC has surpassed its previous year’s pellet production and aims to achieve 5 million tons of production by the end of the year by managing gas challenges. Meanwhile, due to the increase in pellet production, sales of this product have also grown by more than 43%.
However, the important point is that SSMIC has achieved this record in a situation where the steel industry is facing many challenges in the field of energy supply, especially electricity and gas. This year, electricity and gas restrictions surprised the steelmakers earlier than last year. As a result, achieving this goal primarily goes back to energy management in this complex, which has now been successfully accomplished. In fact, SSMIC managed a significant part of the energy challenge by drafting its annual strategic document and adjusting the periodic maintenance conditions to the times of energy shortages. Simultaneously, by purchasing guaranteed electricity from the private sector, SSMIC overcame the challenge of power outages in the summer with minimal interruptions to continue achieving its forecasted program.
The main reason for this record is indeed the management approach in the Sangan complex. The management of Sangan, with a professional and expert perspective, has planned short-term, medium-term, and long-term strategies and has formulated the development strategy by examining all factors affecting production, which now the records show this precise and expert viewpoint.
The increase in concentrate production in this complex will lead to an increase in production in the next stage, i.e., pellets, which will enhance SSMIC’s role in meeting the needs of Mobarakeh Steel Company as the parent group. This can further increase SSMIC’s share in supplying raw materials for the steel value chain in the future.