Tehran, Iran, June 11
By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:
Iran has started exporting iron ore to Turkmenistan from Sangan Minerals Complex, according to CEO of Iran's East Railways Mohammad Ebrahim Eqbali.
He explained the first cargo consisted of 726 tons of hematite iron ore, the IRIB reported June 11.
The official added that Iran plans a monthly export of 100 thousand tons of the ore to Turkmenistan.
Pakistan, China, the United Arab Emirates, Turkmenistan, and Iraq were the main destinations for Iran's exported iron ore.
Iron ore was at the top of the list of Iran's exported non-oil goods in 2013 but it dropped to the fifth place in the following year.
Iran seeks to form an international consortium to find new markets for its iron ore, to eliminate China's dominant share of the Islamic Republic's iron ore exports.
Alireza Siasi, the secretary of Iran's Iron Ore Producers and Exporters Association said the country should establish a competitive market and export iron ore to countries other than China, the Islamic Republic's ISNA news agency reported Nov. 5.
"Some decisions are forecastto be made on the issue before 2015," he added.
In recent years China has imported 2.5 percent of its iron ore demands from Iran, over 90 percent of Iran's total iron ore exports.
Iran's iron ore exports witnessed significant fall during the recent months. Tehran exported 7.75 million metric tons of iron ore, worth $510 million during the 7-month period from March 21 to Oct. 22, 2015, which indicates a fall by 34.84 percent in terms of volume and a decline by 31.23 in terms of value respectively compared to the same period of preceding year (Iran's fiscal year starts on March 21).