Tehran, Iran, November 11
By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:
Projects are underway in Iran to prevent the export of iron ore, according to Mehdi Karbasian, CEO of the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation, known as IMIDRO.
The highest sale of raw minerals in Iran belongs to steel and iron ore, he said, noting the lack of balance between concentrate, pellet, and DRI (direct reduced iron) supply, Tasnim news agency reported November 11.
Minister of Mine, Industry, and Trade Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh issued a special decree, according to which, the export of raw minerals should be prohibited.
Karbbasian said it is on agenda in a matter of days to inaugurate some factories in Iran with a total output of 5 million tons of pellet.
By the end of this year also three DRI units will come on stream, he said.
Iran exported 12.8 million tons of minerals with a value of $576 million during the first six months of the current Iranian year.
This showed an improvement of 50 percent in weight and 41 percent in value compared to the same period last year.
Non-alloy iron and steel rolls export during the same period was worth $474 million, constituting 2.2 percent of the country’s total export. The revenue came with a 15-percent year-on-year decline.
In the meantime, Iran exported $1.349 billion iron, steel, and cast iron. This constituted 6.2 percent of the country’s total export value and showed 13 percent improvement year on year.
During the same period, Iran imported worth $879 million iron, steel, and cast iron. This constituted 4.3 percent of the country’s total import value and came at a 33-percent decline year on year.