TEHRAN - Production of iron ore concentrate in Iran reached 47.306 million tons in the previous Iranian calendar year (ended on March 19), registering a four-percent rise compared to the preceding year, IRNA reported on Saturday, citing the Industry, Mining, and Trade Ministry data.

As reported, the data regarding the output of major mineral production companies released by the ministry showed that last year 41.7 million tons of iron ore pellet was also produced.

In a bid to prevent the exports of unprocessed minerals, creating more value-added and meeting the requirements of domestic producers for the raw materials, Iran has levied a 25-percent duty on the exports of raw minerals (especially iron ore) since September 23, 2019.

The Industry Ministry believes that the duty is going to encourage the production of more processed minerals such as pellets and concentrate instead of selling the raw minerals.

EF/MA