Tehran, Iran, July 10
By A. Shirazi - Trend:
Deputy Minister of Industries, Mining and Trade Reza Rahmani said that 150 million square meters of ceramic tiles were exported by the country in the previous Iranian calendar year (ended March 20).
“Iran is now the fourth biggest producer and exporter of tiles and ceramics in the world,” Rahmani said, IRNA news agency reported on July 10.
Iraq and Afghanistan are among the main markets for Iranian-made tile products.
Saying that new capacities have been created in the country’s tile industry, he called on the government to increase its support for it.
Rahmani further said that plans are underway to target new markets in regional and neighboring nations, particularly Iraq and Syria, and export Iranian ceramics and tiles.
The deputy minister made the remarks on the sidelines of the 25th International Conference on Tile, Ceramics, and Sanitary Ware in underway Tehran.
The conference will wrap up on July 13.
Iran’s tile industry enjoys cheap and abundant energy and raw materials combined with indigenous expertise rooted in history. However, due to the market recession caused by an ongoing stagnation in the construction sector as well as the tile and ceramic industry’s overproduction due to the unrestrained issuance of factory licenses during the 1990s, production and exports have followed a downtrend over the past few years and growth in domestic demand has been weak.