Azerbaijan, Baku, Jun.9/ Trend F.Milad/
Global economic sanctions, improper national policies and financial problems have damaged Iran's aluminum industry, a top Iranian industrialist said.
Difficult processes of opening letters of credit and receiving financial facilities are among problems in this sector, many aluminum industries are working just at 30 percent of their nominal capacities, Hebbatollah Fazeli told the Fars News Agency
He added that last year Iran wanted to import two thousand tons of profiles from Germany, but problems in opening letters of credit hindered the process.
Iran produced some 303,000 tons of aluminum ingots in the first eleven months of the current calendar year, ended on March 19, 2012, showing around 10 percent rise compared to the same period last year, Mehr news agency reported.
IRALCO was the main producer with over 159,000 tons of output, the report added.
Deputy Head of Iran's Geology and Mineral Exploration Organization Behrouz Borna said the country ranks first in the Middle East for possessing the region's largest mineral reserves.
"Iran holds three percent of the world's mineral reserves, which ranks the country first in the Middle East and third in Asia," Borna added, Press TV reported.
The official also said the country holds about 68 kinds of minerals and added that 20 other types of minerals have been identified through recent explorations.
Iran is ranked among the 15 major mineral rich countries and exports its industrial and mineral products to 159 countries including Iraq, China, the United Arab Emirates, India and Afghanistan