TEHRAN- The head of Iran's House of Industry, Mine and Trade emphasized the need to meet the country's requirement for mining and road-building machinery through imports and said: “If we do not import this category of machinery, part of our production in the mining sector and road construction projects will face problems.”

Abd-ul-Vahab Sahl-Abadi said that some of the machines needed by the country's industry sector are manufactured inside the country, and in this regard, measures should be taken to prevent them from being imported.

However, road construction and mining machinery such as excavators, loaders, bulldozers, etc. are not manufactured in the country and must be imported, he added.

Meanwhile, in mid-August, the vice chairman of Parliament’s Industries Committee had said that the mining machinery of the country is in need of renovation.

Regarding the import of machinery in the mining sector, he said: “Mining machinery is manufactured in the country, but unfortunately there are not enough large industries that manufacture mining machinery and their production is also limited, so they cannot meet all the needs in the field of mining machinery.

Also in mid-July, the deputy, industry, mining and trade minister for mines and mining industries said that there are more than 15,000 mining machines, which are over 20 years old, in the fleet of mining industries of the country, which need renovation and replacement.

Reza Mohtashami said that some of these machines can be renovated, but the rest should be replaced through imports.

He said the liberalization of the import of mining machinery is only limited to machinery that cannot be manufactured inside the country.

The import of mining machinery without a history of manufacturing inside the country has been liberated without restrictions, and in this way, a good prospect is expected in the mining industry equipment sector in the future, the official said, adding that in terms of the other machines that can be manufactured inside the country, import will not be done.

Having 81 different types of minerals, Iran is one of the top 10 mineral-rich countries across the globe. In this regard, the Iranian government is pursuing several programs for promoting the mining sector as a major contributor to the country’s economic growth.

But despite these programs, this sector is facing several challenges.

According to a report released in the past Iranian calendar year (ended on March 20) by the Research Center of the parliament, the challenges of the mining sector are 44 percent related to laws and the lack of a long and clear mining strategy, 33 percent are related to mismanagement and problems of miners, 13 percent to environmental and natural resources problems, and 10 percent are related to international problems.

Lack of machinery is also a major challenge in the mining sector.

A board member of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) has said: “At present, due to the shortage of these machines, purchase prices have skyrocketed and, in addition, their rents have become very expensive. At these prices, it is not profitable for small and medium-sized mines to rent machinery and become active. Finally, the miner has the mine and the raw material, but it is not economical due to the expensive operation of the machinery”.

MA/MA