War and power crisis cripple Iran's steel output as Mobarakeh and Khouzestan Steel fall idle

According to a report by the analytics firm GMK Center, the Iran-US war and damage to the power grid have sharply reduced Iran's steel production capacity. The country's two largest electricity consumers, Mobarakeh Steel in Isfahan and Khouzestan Steel, have effectively fallen out of production after being hit by air strikes; Mobarakeh previously drew about 1,400 megawatts and Khouzestan about 600.

The first damage to these complexes dates back to the air strikes of March 27, which targeted their power infrastructure and storage. On these estimates, returning Mobarakeh to its pre-war capacity could take about four years.

Steel is among the heaviest-weighted sectors on the Tehran Stock Exchange and a major Iranian non-oil export; the halt at these two large complexes affects both domestic steel supply and the country's foreign-currency earnings.