TEHRAN – Manufacturing of road construction and mining machinery in Iran is going to reach 4,500 by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 19), an official with the Industry, Mining, and Trade Ministry said.

According to Abouzar Jamshidvand, the director general of the ministry’s Office of Agricultural, Construction, and Mining Machinery, 3,100 such machinery has been manufactured since the beginning of the current year (March 21, 2023), IRIB reported.

“The policy of the Industry Ministry is to provide road construction and mining machinery from domestic sources, so according to the general policies of the government, the laws approved by the parliament, and the explicit order of the minister, the aim is to use the capacities of domestic producers to meet the needs of the country in this field,” Jamshidvand said.

According to the official, the production of road construction and mining machinery increased significantly in the previous year (1401) compared to the preceding year, so that last year production reached 3,400 while the figure was only 1,700 in the year 1400.

“If there is a shortage in production and it is not possible to manufacture domestically, we will import the machines, and good things have happened in this area so far,” he said.

Back in 2022, Jamshidvand said more than 80 percent of the machinery needed by the mining sector in the country can be produced by domestic manufacturers.

The official noted that a working group was formed in the Industry Ministry to assess the demand and capacities in the field of mining machinery, and some contracts were also concluded between domestic manufacturers and some of the country’s mining companies.

He further noted that there are 26 production units of agricultural, road construction, and mining machinery active in the country, of which 15 units are major ones.

“Considering the demand for such machinery in the country, it is necessary to increase the production capacity of such units in the country,” Jamshidvand said.

EF/MA