VIAN STEEL MELTING AND CASTING COMPLEX Information

Vian Steel Melting and Casting Company (VISCO), founded in 2003, is Iran's largest privately-owned steel-maker. VISCO's production plant, a Siemens-VAI designed high-technology seamless mini-mill will produce 600,000 tons of EU standard compliant steel-billets annually. Iran has several key advantages for steelmaking, including available affordable energy, access to capital, skilled labor and an extensive transportation network. As a result, VISCO maintains operative costs which place the company among the world s lowest-cost steel producers. A long-running deficiency in Iranian produced steel-billets - over 3 million tons of steel billets were imported in 2006 provide a captive internal market for VISCO. With competitive operating costs, and the high productivity resulting from Siemens-VAI's technology VISCO envisages immediate and sustained profitability. VISCO's pioneering role in the Iranian steel industry extends to environmental stewardship. VISCO consumes 1.05 tons of recycled metal for every ton of steel-billet it produces, making the company one the country's largest recyclers. Additionally, the company's plant is equipped with the emissions-reducing equipment required by the European Union, making the company the cleanest steel producer in the country.