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Iran may partly lift ban on car imports

Business Materials 13 November 2012 13:09 (UTC +04:00)

Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov.13/ Trend F.Milad/

Iran may exclude some of the foreign made cars from the 77-item list of luxury goods banned from importing into the country, Deputy Minister of Trade and Mines Hamid Safdel said on Tuesday.

Iran may lift the ban on the cars produced by some specific manufacturers, the Mehr News Agency quoted Safdel as saying.

"The final list of the banned items will be released early next week," he added.

Iran has temporarily banned the import of some luxury goods including foreign made cars and mobile phones to save billions of dollars for essential products in the face of worsening sanctions.

Authorities have divided imports into 10 categories based on how essential they are seen to be and will provide importers with dollars at a subsidised rate to buy basic goods.

Import permission for some luxury goods from foreign made cars, mobile phones and laptops to home appliances and clothing are no longer being issued until there is a final review, according to reports.

Iran excluded computer components from the 77 item list on Tuesday.

Iran imported some 23.000 cars in the first seven months of the current Iranian calendar year (ended on October 21), head of Iran's Customs Administration said on Sunday.

The figure shows a 12 per cent increase compared to the same period the previous year, the IRNA News Agency quoted Abbas Memarnejad as saying.

The cars were mainly imported from South Korea and China, he added.

The Tehran Times reported in September that Iran imported more than 15,750 luxury cars worth around $341 million during the first five months of the current Iranian year which began on March 20, showing some 30 per cent rise year-on-year.

The cars were mainly imported from the UAE, South Korea and Oman.

Iran's automobile market is highly protected against imports allowing the import of only 40.000 vehicles last year despite a steadily growing demand mostly met through domestic production of some 1.6 million cars per year.

Currently there are an estimated 14 million vehicles on Iran's roads, more than double the six million registered in 2005.

Iran's car output in the first six months of the current calendar year (ended on September 21), fell by 42 per cent compared to the same period last year, the ISNA News Agency reported.

On October 8, Iranian giant carmaker Iran Khodro (IKCO) increased its product prices by 10 per cent, while the other Iranian carmaker, Saipa, boosted prices by 20 per cent.

Decrease of domestic production and rise of import limitations as well as dollar price growth led to an unprecedented increase in car prices in Iran.

On September 15, the ILNA news agency reported that prices of different cars increased by around 35 present on average since March 2011.

According to the report, the supply has decreased but demand is still high.

Iran plans to manufacture at least three million cars by 2025 and export one million, the Fars News Agency quoted Industry, Mine and Trade Minister Mehdi Ghazanfari as saying on June 16.

"Some 1.6 million cars were manufactured in the past calendar year and 55.000 cars were exported," Ghazanfari said.

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