TEHRAN- Iran produced 27,031 million tons of iron ore during the nine-month period ended on December 21, 2018, IRNA reported citing the data released by Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO).

IMIDRO data also put the amount of raw iron ore extracted during the mentioned time at 48,759 million tons.

Furthermore, the country’s non-oil trade data shows that Iran has exported $537.1 million of iron ore concentrate and iron ore pellet in the mentioned nine-month period.

The country exported $1.072 billion of iron ore in the past Iranian calendar year (ended on March 20, 2018), which indicates 31.1 percent rise from its previous year’s figure, according to the data released by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA).

China was the main buyer of Iran’s iron ore in the past year, importing $1.043 billion of the product from Iran, which is 97 percent of the total exports.

Iraq, India, Russia and Afghanistan stood at the next places after China in the past year.

Iran is one of the top 10 mineral-rich countries where 68 types of minerals have been identified so far, including the world’s largest deposits of copper, zinc and iron.

MA/MA