BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan.15
Trend:
The Iranian parliament's plan for sustainable development of steel production chain would create a challenge for steel exports, said the secretary of Iranian Steel producers Association (ISPA) Rasoul Khalifeh Soltani, Trend reports citing Mehr News Agency.
"The parliament's regulation for steel industry should not limit the industry regaridng domestic and international changes. Steel market is dynamic and requires flexible policy making," said Soltani.
"Any approved regulation for steel market management requires an administrator with executive experience that is collaborative with capital market and mercantile market, and who is aware of the complexities of steel production," he said.
"Iran's steel industry shares 15 percent of the capital market. During the past three years at any time when the government and the parliament intervened in the issues of the steel market, the capital market would drop, the prices would increase," he said.
Soltani said the parliament's plan to manage the country's steel market would inflict damage to Iran's steel exports, since it envisages elimination of tax exemptions for the steel exports, while imposing export duties on the exporters.
"Steel is Iran's second biggest non-oil export after petrochemicals, revenue-wise. It can generate $6 billion worth of revenues, but these approaches against the steel exports would certainly reduce production, affect low income people," he said.