Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb.22 / Trend F.Mehdi/
Over 125 trillion rials (about $10.2 billion) has been invested in iron ore production plans which are underway in Iran, the Mehr news Agency quoted the head of Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization Fereydoon Ahmadi as saying.
The plans are projected to increase iron ore production capacity to 10 million tons and iron ore concentrate to 63 million tons and iron ore conglomerate to 58 million tons by the end of the fifth five-year development plan (2015), he noted.
Iran produced over 25.45 million tons of iron ore in the first ten months of the current Iranian calendar year, which began on March 20, 2012, showing a 9.6 percent rise compared to the same period in the previous year, the Tasnim News Agency reported.
The iron ore output stood at 2.15 million tons in the tenth calendar month of Day (December 21, 2012-January 19, 2013), according to the report.
The deputy industry minister Reza Fatemi-Amin said on September 9, 2012 that Iran will no longer need to import steel products next year once the underway steel production projects come on stream.
Fatemi-Amin added that some 7 million tons of crude steel is imported annually.
On September 4, 2012, Industry, Mine, and Trade Minister Mehdi Ghazanfari said that a number of steel projects, with the total output of 12 million tons are underway.
Iran will become one of the world's main steel exporters by March 2016, Ghazanfari said in May 2011.
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