Baku, Azerbaijan, April 22
By Elnur Baghishov – Trend:
The official opening of the Baft Sponge Iron Production Plant in Iran’s Kerman Province will take place soon, said Khodadad Gharibpour, Deputy Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade of Iran and head of Iranian Mines & Mining Industries Development & Renovation Organization (IMIDRO), Trend reports referring to the website of Iran National Steel Industrial Group.
According to Gharibpour, this plant is considered one of Iran's most well-equipped sponge iron production plants.
Gharibpour added that the plant was built with the partnership of IMIDRO and the private sector.
"The 1st experimental production of the plant was carried out on April 7 this year. Although the plant's commission is scheduled for December, it will start operating 9 months ahead of schedule," he said.
Gharibpour said that the 1st phase of the plant, which will be opened soon, will produce 800,000 tons of sponge iron.
"The 2nd phase of the plant will produce 800,000 tons of briquettes annually, and the 3rd phase will produce 2.5 million tons of pellets annually," he said.
By the time all of the phases will be commissioned, nearly 12,000 people will be employed, he remarked.
According to statistics, Iran exported 507,000 tons of sponge iron last Iranian year (started 21 March 2018), which is a 21-percent decline compared to the same period of the preceding year (639,000 tons).
While focusing on the activities of large mining companies in the Iranian mining sector, sponge iron production increased by 27 percent to 21 million tons during the last 10 months of the previous Iranian year (started March 21, 2018), in comparison with the same period from a year earlier.