TEHRAN – Deputy Iranian Industry, Mining, and Trade Minister Darioush Esmaieli says over 90 million tons of iron ore was produced in the country during the previous Iranian calendar year of which only seven percent was exported.

The reduction in the exports of iron ore comes as the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Seyed Ali Khamenei urged the government to prevent the exports of raw minerals in order to be processed in the country for making products with more added value.

Following the leader’s remarks, the government levied a 25-percent duty on the exports of raw minerals (especially iron ore) as from September 23, 2019.

According to Esmaieli, 10 years ago Iran exported more than 20 million tons of unprocessed iron ore and the figure fell to a maximum of six million tons last year.

The deputy minister noted that exports of the mentioned commodity have also fallen to 500,000 tons in the first three months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-June 20).

The official further stated that Industry Ministry’s goal is to reduce the iron ore exports to zero and in this regard, the 25-percent duty was levied and the mining deputy of the ministry has been allowed to prevent iron ore exports all together in case of necessity.

He said the Industry Ministry even considers the exports of steel ingots as raw material export and is planning to reduce the exports of such commodities as well.

“We are constantly targeted by sanctions, so we need to count on our own domestic market and focus on domestic production; export should be the target for the end of the production chain, and that is the policy of the Industry Ministry,” he stressed.

According to the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO), in its outlook plan for the Iranian calendar year 1404 (2025-2026) the country 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.

EF/MA