Azerbaijan, Baku, Jun.19/ Trend R.Zamanov
Iran ranks as the world's seventh largest tile and ceramic exporter, director of Trade Promotion Organisation of Iran said on Wednesday.
Iran's is currently the world's fourth biggest tile and ceramic producer, the IRNA News Agency quoted Hamid Safdel as saying.
Iran's tile and ceramic output stood at 455 million square metres in the previous Iranian calendar year which ended March 20. The amount shows a 37 per cent increase compared to its preceding year, he said.
Safdel expressed the hope the amount would rise to 655 million square metres by the end of the current calendar year (March 20, 2014).
Safdel put the world's total tile and ceramic production output at 11 billion cubic metres.
Iran exported over 500 billion dollars' worth of tiles and ceramics in the previous year, he added.
According to the head of the Tile Producers and Sellers Union, Mohammad Roshanfekr, Iran exported 90 million cubic metres of tiles and ceramics in the previous year.
He expressed the hope that the amount would increase to 120 million cubic metres by the end of current calendar year.
Neighbouring states, as well as African and central Asian countries are the main destinations for Iranian-made tiles and ceramics.
Iran produced over 18.340 million square metres of tiles and ceramics in the first Iranian calendar month of the current year (March 21 - April 20).
The amount shows a 6.7 per cent increase compared to the same period in the previous year, the IRNA News Agency reported.