TEHRAN - Iran exported 10.609 million tons of iron ore during the first eight months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-December 22, 2019), registering a 46-percent rise year on year, IRNA reported, citing the data from Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA).

The country exported $698 million worth of the commodity in the mentioned time span, of which 38.5 percent was accounted for by iron ore concentrate.

As reported, the IRICA data indicated that the increase in the duty imposed on iron ore exports, which is currently at 25 percent, has decreased the monthly exports of the product in the eighth Iranian calendar month of Aban (October 21-November 21, 2019) by 21 percent compared to the same month in the previous year.

In a bid to prevent the exports of unprocessed minerals, creating more value added and meeting the requirements of domestic producers for the raw materials, Iran has levied a 25-percent duty on the exports of raw minerals (especially iron ore) since last September.

The new duty is expected to encourage production of more processed minerals such as pellet and concentrate instead of selling the raw minerals.

In the mentioned eight months, the country exported 3.430 million tons of iron ore concentrate worth $268 million, registering a 29-percent rise in terms of weight and a 39-percent increase in terms of value.

EF/MA