TEHRAN - Head of Iranian Association of Auto Parts Manufacturers Mohammadreza Najafi-Manesh said the country’s auto part manufacturers require 15,000 tons of steel annually to increase production and meet the needs of the mentioned industry.

As reported by IRNA, in a letter addressing the Industry, Mining and Trade Minister Alireza Razm Hosseini, Najafi-Manesh underlined some of the major problems and challenges that the country’s auto part manufacturers are currently facing and called for the ministry’s support in resolving these problems.

According to Najafi-Manesh, the government allocated 10,000 tons of steel for the auto part manufacturers in the previous Iranian calendar year (ended on March 19), and given the rise in the country’s car production in the current year, now the allocation of at least 15,000 tons of steel would ensure the increase in production of parts and prevent failure in achieving the goals announced by the automotive industry.

The official stressed the liquidity problem as the most important hurdle in the way of boosting production in this sector and said: “Considering the dramatic rise in the price of raw materials, the manufacturers need the government to remove barriers in the way of their easy access to raw materials.”

Domestic parts manufacturers are playing a key role in creating a boom in the country's manufacturing and employment sectors, in addition to playing their leading role as the auto industry’s intermediates.

Following the country’s macro-policies for supporting domestic production in various areas, the Industry, Mining, and Trade Ministry has been setting up a number of expert desks for supporting domestic production in the auto parts industry.

In May 2019, former Industry Minister Reza Rahmani issued a directive on “strengthening domestic manufacturing of imported auto parts”.

Since then several incentive packages have been offered to auto part manufacturers to encourage domestic production in this sector.

In January, the Iranian Association of Auto Parts Manufacturers announced that the country has achieved 80 percent self-sufficiency in the manufacturing of auto parts.

EF/MA