A Review of Magnesium Industry in Iran – Opportunities and Threats

In the last two decades, efforts for increasing Magnesium (Mg) applications and finding solutions for overcoming its limitations have increased. At the same time, production and demand for Mg alloys have also increased significantly in the international markets. In response to the international trends, attention to Mg production and its consumption has also grown in Iran. In the present paper different technologies of Mg production has been briefly introduced and local opportunities in Mg production are summarized and elaborated. Despite the existence of important opportunities in local Mg production, including easy access to low cost and clean energy, raw material and workforce, Mg production features high potential important threats. Different threats to local Mg production including limitation in access to appropriate raw material and access to large working capital are further discussed in this paper. At the end, amongst investigating the history of Mg production, supply and demand in Iran, main structural and metallurgical applications of Mg in local industries are described. Technical and financial feasibility studies indicate that Iran has major advantages in production and consumption of Mg and this industrial sector will experience major growth in the future.