Iran to launch largest coke production plant in Middle East

Iran is set to launch the Middle East’s largest coke production plant with an annual output capacity of 900,000 tons in the country’s central city of Isfahan.

The coke production facility of Isfahan’s Mobarakeh Steel Mill is due to come on stream in a ceremony attended by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday.

Also, the gas produced during the coke production process will be used to fuel the power plants operating in the steel mill network. The project is expected to create 481 direct and over 12,000 indirect job opportunities.

The Iranian president will also inaugurate the country’s biggest oxygen production plant with a production capacity of 60,000 cubic meters per hour in the city.

He is also scheduled to open two power plants with a total production capacity of 110 megawatts there.

Iran is the biggest steel producer in the Middle East and North Africa. The country’s main steel mills are located in Isfahan and Khuzestan provinces.

The 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 approximately 10 percent.

Iran is among the 15 major mineral-rich countries of the world and exports its industrial and mineral products to 159 countries, including Iraq, China, the United Arab Emirates, India and Afghanistan.