The sharp drop in temperatures across
Iran in recent weeks has led to an unprecedented increase in energy
consumption, which is also blamed on the cheap price of gas
Shortage of gas has become a
major headache for the steel industry, as curbs on gas supplies have
intensified since last year so much so that direct-reduced iron production
units have had to close down under severe restrictions, which has consequently
affected the steel industry, according to Vahid Yaqoubi, an executive manager
of the Iranian Steel Producers Association.
“Due to gas and
electricity supply restrictions, we fell behind by about 6 million tons from
our steel production plans last year [March 2021-22],” he was quoted as saying
by the news portal of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and
Agriculture last week.
The sharp drop in
temperatures across Iran in recent weeks has led to an unprecedented increase
in energy consumption, which is also blamed on the cheap price of gas in the
country. This is while Iran has lost gas import from Turkmenistan due to problems
in the Central Asian country’s domestic network. As a result, gas supply to
industries was curtailed to meet the growing needs of households.