Seyed Abdulvahab Sahlabadi, the Head of the Iran House of Industry and Mine, stated: “The conditions for production and industry are not favorable for competition, and changes in facilities and the reduction of bank interest rates have not helped producers so far.”
He added: “Unfortunately, the current amount of facilities offered does not help producers, and we expect the government to increase the amount of facilities.”
Sahlabadi stated: “We expect bank interest rates to decrease in line with inflation, and we hope that funds in the deposit sector will not move towards unsafe banks!” The Head of the Iran House of Industry and Mine said: “The situation of industrial units across the country is not good, and most are operating at 30% below capacity.” In response to what the industries’ plan is after the lifting of sanctions, he added: “If the negotiations are finalized in July, industrialists must try to reduce the final cost of their goods and increase their quality.”
He clarified: “We cannot say that goods should not enter the country, but we must facilitate conditions for producers and lift the burden on the industry.”
Collection of Value-Added Tax at the Consumption Stage / The Necessity of Reducing Bank Interest Rates Along with Inflation
Sahlabadi, referring to the major problem of producers, said: “Collecting value-added tax at various stages and through production units is not correct. Despite the fact that this issue is also mentioned in the Guild System Law, it has not yet been implemented.” He emphasized: “The collection of value-added tax should only occur at the consumption stage.” (Source: ILNA, May 5, 2015)
The Country’s Steel Consumption and the Goal of 55 Million Tons Production
Based on what has been discussed so far, the strategy of Iran’s steel industry is to reach a production capacity of 55 million tons of steel by the year 1404 (2025), which is in the next 10 years. Regardless of whether this goal is achieved or not, with a simple calculation, we conclude that the consumption of all of these 55 million tons of steel will not be possible within the country. Iran’s per capita steel consumption last year was slightly more than 200 kilograms, and for the information of our respected readers, it has not exceeded 270 kilograms even in the best years of economic prosperity. Now, assuming a return to economic prosperity and reaching a record per capita consumption of 300 kilograms of steel (which is equivalent to the per capita steel consumption in the United States) and with Iran’s population of 90 million people in the year 1404, the amount of steel demand inside the country will be 27 million tons. And if we assume per capita steel consumption is 400 kilograms, which is equivalent to the current consumption of industrialized countries like Germany, Sweden, or Austria, the total domestic steel consumption will still not exceed 36 million tons, and the surplus of this 55 million tons of production must inevitably be sent to export markets.
Forecast of Steel Consumption in Different Regions of the World in the Next 2 Years
The World Steel Association released its latest report on the predicted growth of steel consumption in the next 2 years. According to this report, published on April 20, 2015, the total apparent steel consumption in the world in 2015 will reach 1544 million tons, with a 0.5% growth compared to the previous year. It is also predicted that this number will reach 1565 million tons in 2016 with a 1.4% growth. The growth of global steel consumption in 2014 was 0.6% compared to the year before.
Used Capacity of Global Steel Units
However, in addition to the predicted 0.5% and 1.4% growth in global steel consumption in the next two years, another important index is monitored monthly by the World Steel Association: the used capacity of global steel units. According to the latest statistics, this index reached 71.6% last month, which means that there is about 30% unused capacity in the entire global steel industry. Therefore, the 1.4% growth in steel consumption in 2016 is very small compared to the idle capacity of the global steel industry, and this will make the competition among major steelmakers tougher. This competition, which started a few months ago, has also led to a decrease in global steel prices. In the same month two years ago, the used capacity of global steel units was about 80%. This means that the idle capacity of global steelmakers has increased, which is equivalent to 160 million tons of steel per year.
Decline in China’s Economic Growth and Drop in Steel Consumption
China produces and consumes about half of the world’s steel. In previous years, the annual growth rate of steel production in this country even reached 25%. The steel production of China, with a stunning growth, increased from 128 million tons in 2000 to more than 780 million tons in 2013, a more than six-fold increase. However, following the Chinese government’s economic policy revisions in recent years, and especially their impact on the country’s housing and construction market, for the first time since 1995, China’s steel demand declined in 2014 and was recorded as 3.3% less than the previous year. It seems that this downward trend will remain unchanged at least in the short term, as China’s steel consumption is also predicted to have a negative growth of 0.5% in 2015 and 2016. At the same time, no positive leap is expected in China’s steel consumption rate in the medium term. Structural changes in China’s economic policies are inevitable for the government of this country, as it is transitioning to a new era of economic growth and development, and is reducing industrial and construction projects and paying more attention to consumerism and improving the public welfare. At the same time, these infrastructural changes will be time-consuming. Therefore, it is predicted that in the short term, China’s developments will affect global steel markets, and in the next one or two years, we will witness an increasing flood of China’s 800 million tons of surplus steel production to the markets of various countries.
Wear Resistance of Cast Alloy Steel Parts for Use in Heavy Machinery
Abstract:
This article presents the results and analysis of the wear resistance of two types of cast steel: a low-alloy cast steel for heavy machinery components such as casings and covers, and a high-chrome cast steel for pins and bushings of heavy machinery joints. In this research, an improved method for measuring the wear resistance of a pin on a disc, developed at the Foundry Department of the Silesian University of Technology in Poland, was also used.