Tehran, Iran, June 19
By Mehdi Sepahvand – Trend:
The textile industry in Iran is in bad shape and in the past four years about 5,000 textile factories in the country have been forced to close down, according to Iran Textile Association Chairman Mohammad Moravej.
The textile industry in Iran is running at 40 percent of its full capacity, he told Fars news agency June 19.
The reasons are radical shifts in currency rates, the factories’ inability to repay facilities, lack of raw material and a stagnant market, he stated.
In the past years, big units such as Mazandaran Textile, Kashan Velvet-Silk and Iran-Barak were closed down, and right now the giant Boroujerd Textile is on the verge of closing down, Moravej said.
About two months ago, Boroujerd Textile laid off 500 of its 1,000 workforce due to financial problems.
Moravej said Iranian textile factories cannot lure foreign investment due to lack of courage with foreign banks to start business with Iran after economic sanctions have been lifted.
Only a few small banks in Turkey and an Iranian-related bank in Germany have opened letters of credit for Iran so far, he stated.