Optimization of Iron Ore and Concentrate Required by the Forecasted Factories According to the Per Capita Consumption of Steel in Afghanistan Based on the Linear Programming Model Until 2030

Global growth of the steel industry, existence of rich iron ore resources and excessive domestic demand for this product; the idea of designing and optimizing the amount of iron ore and concentrate required by the factories was created according to the domestic demand for steel in Afghanistan. In this research, first all provinces were evaluated according to factors (iron ore reserves, distance to consumers, water resources, energy resources, infrastructure and security, etc.) and then by arranging and distributing questionnaires and interviewing with experts, Six provinces are envisaged as candidate options for the construction of processing plants and another six provinces as candidate options for the construction of steel industries. In the linear planning model, three separate areas of mines, processing plants and steel industries are formed and each area is divided into its respective zones based on location and production capacity. After forming the matrix of road transport distances between the zones using GIS software, a linear programming model is formed to optimize the amount of iron ore required by processing plants and concentrate required by the steel industry. Optimization of iron ore, concentrate and steel production required by Afghanistan up to 2030 horizon has been done using linear programming model in Excel software. According to estimates, Afghanistan will need 2.89 million tons of iron ore, 1.7 million tons of concentrate and 1 million tons of steel annually by 2030