Tehran, Iran, July 31
Trend:
Iran has increased aluminum production; however, it continues to ignore export market in neighbor countries, said the secretary of Iran Aluminum Industries Syndicate.
"The imports of aluminum continues under various pretexts, while domestic aluminum industry can not only provide the country's needs, but also export the product, if the price of aluminum bar becomes more transparent and real," said Abolfazl Rezaei, Trend reports citing ILNA.
"The government policies is to support upstream industries more than downstream industries, and it should be noted that, for example, Iraq and Afghanistan are the destinations for Iran's food industry, gas and electricity exports, but not other products. In the meantime, supporting downstream industries would promote exports of their products. Without it, the downstream industries are leaving their export markets," he added.
"Iran’s annual aluminum bar production is from 256,000 to 260,000 tons. While the global price of aluminum bar is $42 to $45, it is sold in the domestic market at $100, and this continues despite countless objections. As a result, Iraq's aluminum market has been left to Turkish rivals," he noted.
"The production in downstream industries has increased because of the sanctions and rise of foreign currency rate; therefore, the market has moved out of complete recession, although this situation puts a lot of pressure on the downstream industries," he noted.
In his words, domestic market has more added value for the Iranian Aluminum Company than the exports market. "At the same time, providing alumina for the production requires foreign currency, while exports by downstream industries are not supported," he said.