Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 20
By Elnur Baghishov - Trend:
Iran has always been considered as one of the main manufacturers of decorative stones and both the bordering countries and Europe are clients of Iran in this sector, an official with Iran Stone Association Ahmad Sharifli said, Trend reports via IRNA.
Sharifli noted that on average Iran's annual stone exports reach 10 million square meters.
Some 6,000 processing enterprises operate in this sector, he added.
Presently, Iran's potential of decorative stone production has reached 27 million tons, while the production only exceeds 10 million tons, he said. Iran, along with Italy and China, is one of the main decorative stone producers, he added.
The numbers of mines operating in this sector is over 1,000 and roughly 20 percent of them contribute to the exports, Sharifli said.
In the first nine months of the current Iranian year (started March 21, 2018), Iran exported over 4.536 million tons of stone and related products for over $275 million.
In the previous year, the country's exports of decorative stones reached 749,000 tons, according to Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade of Iran.