Start-ups showcasing achievements in Iran Metafo 2023
By Mahdieh Qazvinian
& Reza Abesh Ahmadlou
Staff writers
The 20th edition of Iran’s international metallurgy exhibition entitled “Iran Metafo 2023” was inaugurated in Tehran on Friday.
The four-day expo covers a wide range of products and services related to the metallurgy industry, with a focus on iron and steel products, mining industries, non-ferrous metals, copper, aluminum, zinc, casting, molding, machining, forging, refractories, and heat treatment.
The exhibition is the biggest event of its kind in the Middle East and its aim is to connect Iranian businesses with their foreign counterparts, introduce them to providers of raw materials, and present opportunities for attracting investors and signing cooperation agreements.
A total of 639 domestic and foreign companies from 22 countries, namely, Germany, China, Italy, Japan, Turkey, Spain, UK, France, Hong Kong, Switzerland, India, Russia, Taiwan, South Korea, Czech Republic, UAE, Slovenia, South Africa, Malaysia, Austria, US, and Sweden have participated in Iran Metafo 2023.
More participants
The number of participants in this year’s exhibition has increased by 30 percent compared to last year, said the event’s organizer Abdolkarim Jalali.
He added that the main groups participating at the exhibition are related to iron and steel, whose presence is impressive as in previous years.
The event provides an opportunity for companies to showcase their products and services, network with potential customers and partners, and learn about the latest trends in the metallurgy industry.
As one of the largest private producers of steel sections of Iran, Tabriz Nab Steel Company is capable of meeting other companies’ needs with its products including steel profile and iron beam.
Generating forex
Talking to Iran Daily, Mehrdad Vahabzadeh, quality control manager of the company added that his company and other Iranian steel companies play a significant role in generating forex for Iran.
Most of our exports are destined to Iraq, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan and Georgia, he noted.
Saying that the main challenges for steel industry is energy supply, Vahabzadeh said, “During the first six months of the [Iranian] year, we have a problem with providing electricity, as in the second six months of the year, a problem with gas supply is the greatest challenge for us.”
The company updates its infrastructure every four years to improve the quality of its products, which is also welcomed by domestic and foreign clients, he added.
“Two weeks ago, we attended a steel exhibition in Erbil, Iraq, which is not comparable to Tehran’s ‘Iran Metafo 2023’, mainly in terms of foreign visitors who are mostly from Turkey and Syria,” said Vahabzadeh.
Modern technologies
The participation of start-ups and new technology-based firms in the exhibition is eye-catching, said Gholamreza Sarvi, the managing director of Azar Nabsh Tabriz Company.
Launched in 2008, the company enjoys an annual production capacity of preheat furnaces, hot-rolling stands, cooling beds, annealing and packaging products, he noted, adding that Georgia, Iraq and Turkey are the main importers of L-shaped steel profiles of the company.
“We must renovate our kilns by using modern technology so the labor force will be more comfortable, as we will have products with higher qualities.”
“The company has used filters that have the highest efficiency in order to move towards a green industry and environmental considerations on reducing emissions,” Sarvi said.
He also pointed to the presence of visitors from the Chinese company whose aim is to sell their machines to Iranian steel factories, as they see the technical knowledge of Iranian engineers as much higher than other countries.
Also, Navid Javid, project manager of Azar Foulad Amin Company, told Iran Daily that the presence of more NTBFs in Iran Metafo 2023 is very favorable as they introduce new ideas to Iran’s steel industry.
Pointing to modern technology developed by his company, he said, “We have the largest and most up-to-date induction furnaces in Iran which, compared to other steel furnaces in Iran, have a higher capacity, higher production power, and less electricity consumption, as well as having high-level security systems.”
In order to have a greater forex income, it’s inevitable to work more on processing raw materials to have products with more added value as our final products in this industry in Iran, Javid noted.
Our company’s forex generation at a recent exhibition held in Iraq was very impressive, he said, explaining that the low cost of transportation and access to the transit road has become an advantage for us in the neighboring country.
Towards green industry
In order to progress on the way to a green industry, the company has reduced water consumption by changing the technology of cooling in furnaces to air coolers, a system that does not consume water at all, as it uses air to cool the foundry machineries and furnaces.
The project had a cost of $1 million, Javid said, adding that our company decreased water consumption from 25 liters per second to 5 liters per second by developing the technology.