TEHRAN- Iran has extracted 64.274 million tons of iron ore during the past Iranian calendar year (ended on March 19), IRNA reported on Monday, citing the data released by Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO).

In its outlook plan for the Iranian calendar year 1404 (2025-2026) Iran has envisaged production of 55 million tons of steel per annum, and to achieve this target the country requires to extract 160 million tons of iron ore concentrates. 

As announced by the Industry, Mining, and Trade Ministry, production of iron ore concentrates in Iran reached 47.306 million tons in the previous Iranian calendar year, registering a four-percent rise compared to the preceding year.

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.

MA/MA