Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 4
By Khalid Kazimov – Trend:
The value of Iran’s steel exports over the first seven months of the current fiscal year (starting March 20) surpassed $1.6 billion, an Iranian deputy minister said.
Mehdi Karbasian, a deputy industry, mines and trade minister, has said that the value of the country’s copper exports also hit $511 million in the mentioned period, IRNA news agency reported.
Mehdi Karbasian noted that Iran’s mineral sector registers about 10 percent growth over the first seven months of the current fiscal year.
In the meantime, Iran exported $140 million worth of aluminum and $400 million of other mineral products, he added.
According to the official, the country needs to lure $50 billion in investment to develop its mining sector by 2021.
According to the latest statistics, the Islamic Republic exported 1.99 million tons of crude steel as well as 1.296 million tons of steel products over the first seven months of the current Iranian year. The figures indicate 103 percent and 5 percent rise, respectively, year-on-year.
The country, however, imported 150 tons of crude steel (a 299-percent increase) and 1.807 million tons of steel products (a 18-percent fall) in the same period.
The country’s economic growth in the mentioned period stood at four percent.