According to the World Steel Association, Iran has produced 10.727mln tons of steel during the last 9 months.

The country produced 13mln tons of steel in 2011 and an eye-catching growth is expected in Iran's steel production this year.

Meantime, the report said that Iran was the 16th steel producer in the world in September with a production of 1.09mln tons.

In June, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced that Iran's steel production should reach 48 million tons in the next 4 or 5 years.

Earlier this year, an Iranian official announced that the production of steel in Iran has grown 5 million tons in the past two years despite the harsh sanctions imposed by the West against the country.

"Despite the intensified sanctions during the last two years, the capacity of Iran's steel production has increased 5mln tons and we will be completely self-sufficient in the steel industry in the next three years," Vice-President of Iran's Steel Association Hamidreza Taherizadeh told FNA in July.