TEHRAN (Tasnim) � Iran plans to double its steel production by 2025 as it is now on the cusp of economic boom following the conclusion of nuclear talks between Tehran and six world powers, a senior official said.

�Iran has $29 billion of mining investments attracting interest of companies from Europe to Asia with plans to more than double steel production by 2025 and boost exports once sanctions are lifted,� Bloomberg quoted Mehdi Karbasian, deputy minister of Iran�s Ministry of Industries, Mines and Trade, as saying.

Karbasians noted that Iran has 2.7 billion pounds of iron ore, used to make steel, adding that steel production is set to jump to 55 million metric tons by 2025 from 22 million tons this year.

�The projected capacity will help us to raise our steel exports by around 12 million tons a year,� he added.

Iran is the largest steel maker of MENA (Middle East & Northern Africa) region.

Back in April, the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO) released a report announcing that Iran's raw steel production has witnessed about 10 percent rise in the first quarter of 2015.

The report added that the country produced right over 4 million tons of raw steel in the first three months of 2015, showing a 9.6-percent increase from the same period last year.

Major raw steel producers of Iran are the Mobarakeh Steel Mill, with approximately 47 percent of the market share, followed by the Khuzestan Steel Company with about 23 percent, the Isfahan Foundry with about 20 percent, and the Iran National Steel Industries Group with some 10% of the market share.

According to a report by the World Steel Association (WSA), Iran is the largest producer of crude steel in the Middle East and Africa and 14th in the world, given the hike in its steel output.

By Tasnim News Agency