On Thursday, the US Treasury Department said in a statement that it had imposed sanctions on Tara Steel Trading GmbH, an offshore subsidiary of Mobarakeh Steel Co., three overseas’ sales agents serving the steel company, and Iran-based Metil Steel.
The Treasury said the sales agents “generated tens of millions of dollars annually from the foreign sale of Mobarakeh Steel Company products, providing significant contributions to the billions of dollars generated overall by Iran’s steel, aluminum, copper, and iron sectors.”
Mobarakeh Steel Co is the largest flat steel producer in the Middle East and North Africa and contributes 1% to Iran’s gross domestic product, the statement added.
The United States returned its sanctions against Iran after illegally and unilaterally leaving a historic nuclear accord between the Islamic Republic and major world powers that has been endorsed by the United Nation Security Council as a resolution.
Thursday’s action also blacklisted three large aluminum, steel, and iron producers in Iran, similarly claiming they contributed billions of dollars in sales and export of Iranian metals.
The sanctions came after back-to-back signs that the bans have failed to adversely affect the country’s metal works.
A report in May showed that daily crude steel output at the Chadormalo factory, a major mill located in eastern Iran, had reached an all-time high of 3,887 metric tons.
An Iranian steel mill reaches its highest ever daily amount of crude production.
In January, the country had reported that it expected its steel exports to touch 10 million tonnes in the year running to March 21, 2020.
Iran expects its steel exports to touch 10 million tonnes in the year to March 21, 2020 despite “tyrannical” sanctions imposed on the country, a senior official says.
Back in July 2019, the country operationalized its first alumina refinery, setting a milestone in its production of the strategic metal.
Iran has brought online its first alumina refinery, marking a milestone in its production of the strategic metal and cushioning blows from unilateral US sanctions.
