Intended recipient of an isostatic press, the procurement of which was denied in 1994 by a member state of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG); affiliated with Iran's Ministry of Industries and Mines; responsible for the administration, policy making and financing of steel exploration, production, distribution and sale in Iran; produces, through its subsidiaries, slabs, blooms, billets, I-beams, round bars, hot and cold rolls, rods, pipes and galvanized sheets; maintains five major integrated steel plants; subsidiaries include Esfahan Steel Co., Khuzestan Steel Company (K.S.C), Mobarakeh Steel Co., Iranian Alloy Steel Company, Kerman Steel Industries Company, Iran National Steel Industrial Group (INSIG), Kaviyan Steel Company, Khorasan Steel Complex, and Iran Rolling Mills Storage Co.; reportedly holds 49 percent of the Kuwait-based United Steel Industrial Company.