TEHRAN- Iranian acting minister of industry, mining and trade announced that reaching the minerals export of $10.5 billion is planned for the current Iranian calendar year (ends on March 20, 2021).

Making the remarks during a meeting with the board members of Iran Mine House, Hossein Modarres Khiabani also elaborated on the industry, mining, and trade ministry’s programs for the mining sector in the current year, which is named the year of “Surge in Production”, IRNA reported.

The official said that the ministry’s policy is moving toward production of products with higher value-added and strengthening exports for the whole steel chain.

He said the minerals and mining projects constitute the main part of the 200 major industrial, mining, and trade projects, which are planned to be inaugurated across the country by the Iranian calendar year of 1400 (begins on March 20, 2021).

According to Deputy Industry, Mining, and Trade Minister Saeed Zarandi, the said projects are going to be implemented under a new program called “Persistent Production-Effective Employment-Sustainable Exports”.

As reported, some 1.69 quadrillion rials (about $40.23 billion) has been invested in the mentioned projects that are going to create job opportunities for 41,000 people.

In terms of the number of projects, Kerman Province with 26 projects and in terms of the volume of investment, Khuzestan Province with nearly 360 trillion rials (about $8.57 billion) have the largest share of the said projects in the country, Zarandi said.

He noted that the said projects, which are characterized by factors like completing the industry’s value chain, reducing imports, being export-oriented, using technology, and creating jobs, have been selected as national projects.

Currently, there are 12,500 projects with physical progress of over 60 percent across the country, of which 6,000 are related to leading and prioritized industries, according to the official.

In the current Iranian calendar year which has been named the year of “Surge in Production” by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution of Iran Seyed Ali Khamenei, the government is determined to support domestic production and promote the country’s none-oil exports.

The “Persistent Production-Effective Employment-Sustainable Exports” program has been defined by the Industry, Mining, and Trade Ministry in line with the government’s new strategies for developing the country’s infrastructure in order to realize the “Surge in Production” motto.

Annual investment making in mining sector up 60%

The spokesman of Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO) has announced that investment making in the country’s mining sector has increased 60 percent in the past Iranian calendar year (ended on March 19).

In an interview conducted by IRNA on Wednesday, Mohammad Sepehr put the investment made in mining and mineral sector last year at $3.2 billion, showing a considerable 60 percent growth as compared to a year earlier.

Iran’s investment in this sector increased last year despite tough U.S. sanctions and also spread of the coronavirus in the country, the official noted.

He further underscored that most mining and mineral projects were put into operation but the official inauguration of some of these mining projects was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The official further announced that mining and mineral projects worth $2.2 billion would be inaugurated in the current year, which is named the year of “Surge in Production.”

Last week, Iranian Industry, Mining and Trade Ministry signed a trilateral memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Geological Survey and Mineral Explorations of Iran (GSI) and IMIDRO for expansion of the country’s mining sector.

The MOU was signed by Iran's Deputy Industry Mining, and Trade Minister Darioush Esmaili, GSI Head Alireza Shahidi and IMIDRO Head Khodadad Gharibpour during a meeting between the acting minister of industry, mining and trade and the representatives of the country’s mining sector.

Development of cooperation in the fields of exploration, extraction and processing of minerals, utilization of capacities, experiences and abilities of each sector, and attracting more investment from the country’s private sector and cooperatives in this industry were reported to be some of the main goals of the signed agreement.

Also, the implementation of exploration projects by Geological Survey and Mineral Explorations of Iran and the formation of a joint committee whose task is to review the proposed exploration projects were also among the important subjects mentioned in the MOU.

Back in April, Esmaili had said that the Industry, Mining and Trade Ministry has provisioned operational targets in the mining sector’s three major areas of exploration, extraction and processing, for the current year.

“In the mining industry sector, we have targeted a 25-percent increase in the production of mineral products, and in the exploration sector, we will add about 20 percent to the previous reserves”, the official said.

The mining sector accounted for 25 percent of the country’s non-oil revenues in the past Iranian calendar year, he said.

MA/MA