TEHRAN – Members of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (TCCIMA)’s Industry and Mining Committee gathered for the 19th time in the current Iranian calendar year (started on March 21) to discuss the issues related to the Tehran province’s industry and mining sectors.

The challenges that the mining sector is currently facing regarding the imports of machinery and equipment was the main topic discussed at the gathering, the TCCIMA portal reported.

During the meeting, which was attended by the representatives of Tehran’s major industrial and mining companies and machinery manufacturers and importers, the participants claimed that there is a big gap between the demand for machinery and the domestic production in the country.

Speaking at the gathering, Sajad Ghoroghi, the deputy chairman of the committee, pointed out that one of the problems of the mining sector is the lack of required machinery and said: "Organizations active in the mining sector are trying to provide a detailed assessment of the industry’s current situation in order to come up with new solutions and proposals for the issues.”

“Because considering the gap between the supply and demand of machinery in the country, the mining sector will lose its stability and this situation cannot continue,” the official said.

Based on official statistics, currently, 31,000 units of machinery are active in the country’s mining sector which produce 350 million tons of products, according to Ghoroghi.

“Of the mentioned machinery, 18,000 have a lifespan of more than 20 years. Now, if we are to achieve the goal of producing 750 million tons of minerals by the Iranian calendar year 1404 (begins in March 2025), about 25,000 machines should be added to the existing capacity,” he said.

However, domestic manufacturers of mining machinery have limited capacity to meet this need, and last year the total number of machines produced by domestic companies did not reach 40 units, the official regrated.

According to available official information, Heavy Equipment Production Company (Hepco) produced a total of 32 machines last year, including 10 rollers, nine loaders, and 13 excavators, which is very far from the country's existing needs.

EF/MA