Speaking on the sidelines of the 2nd International Conference on Perspective of Nonferrous Industries and Related Technologies. Rahmani said. Effective steps have been taken in recent years in the field of development of mining industries in the country.
He added that with levying 25% duties on export of iron ore and raw materials. the value of mineral productions in current year will top $21 billion.
Although effective steps have been taken in this sector. the ministry of industry. mine and trade is after turning raw materials into more added value and generating more employment opportunities for job-seeking people of the country.
Islamic Republic of Iran exported 23 million tons of iron ore over the past few years. the volume of which hit below 8 million tons in the past Iranian calendar year (ended March 20. 2019). showing a significant decline in selling mineral raw materials. Rahmani criticized.
For this purpose. the ministry has focused on strengthening domestic productions. preventing crude selling of products and paying due attention to the knowledge-based companies.
Elsewhere in his remarks. Rahmani put the value of production volume of minerals and mineral industries in last year (ended March 20. 2019) at $20 billion. the value of which will exceed $21 billion in the current year.
He revealed the compilation and notification of mine and mineral roadmap for the first time in the country and added. activation of small-scale mines has been put atop agenda in the country.
Last Sunday. The Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation (IMIDRO) announced that the country is going to increase investment in the mining sector. recounting that 150 mines will be re-activated in a bid to boost Tehran’s economic growth in the face of the US unilateral sanctions.
An IMIDRO official. Somayyeh Kholousi. said that plans were in place to revive operations in some 150 closed mines across Iran in the upcoming months. adding that the projects would lead to permanent employment for around 3.000 workers.
Iran is planning to employ an extra 10.000 people in the mining industry in projects worth nearly $3.9b until the end of the current Persian calendar year in March. she added.
Kholousi said the South Aluminum Project. planned to be opened in November in Fars province. would seek to compensate for the reduced exports of aluminum from Iran over the past years.
The official said the massive expansion of the mining sector in Iran would lead to an increase in the production of steel of up to 39 million tons a year while it would also increase aluminum production by three times.
Kholousi said a main goal of the expansion project is to increase the output for key products like copper cathode and graphite electrodes. She said Iran would import 50 percent less of graphite electrodes. a product widely used in the steel industry. next year.
She said the share of the net private investment in Iran’s mining industry had increased over the past 18 months to reach nearly $140 million.
Iran. a country highly rich in minerals and metal reserves. has sought to use the potential to offset the impacts of a series of American sanctions imposed on its oil industry.
Kholousi said the total investment expected to be injected to the mining sector in Iran until March 2022. when a current national development plan concludes. would top $16 billion.
Last month. the IMIDRO announced that the country exported 633.050 tons of steel in the last local calendar month (between July 23 and August 22) which shows a 37% jump in comparison with figures from corresponding period in the last year.
Late in August. the Iranian Ministry of Industry. Mine and Trade said that the country produced some 7.2 million tons of steel products in the first 4 months of the current local calendar year (March 21-July 21) indicating an 11.6% growth compared with the output of the same period last year.