Baku, Azerbaijan, September 13
By Khalid Kazimov -- Trend:
Iran's Ministry of Industry, Mines, and Trade intends to stop selling raw iron ore by the end of the next Iranian fiscal year (March 20, 2017), Deputy Minister of Industry, Mines and Trade, Mehdi Karbasian said.
The government has started to take measures to prevent the sale of raw materials, he said, Mehr news agency reported September 13.
"Therefore, our goal is to prevent the sale of raw iron ore to the export market and to launch units for the production of concentrate and pellets," the deputy minister stated.
In line with policies to promote processing of products, the lift of export tolls on concentrates made the industry take one step away from selling raw material and move toward the production of material with more added value, he said.
Karbasian added that there are plans to lead production units to the production of sponge iron and billets.
During the first quarter of the current year, Iran exported 3.419 million tons of iron ore which is 22 percent less than in the same period of the previous year, according to the data released by the country's Customs Organization.