TEHRAN – Production of iron ore pellet in Iran increased by 21 percent in the first quarter of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21 – July 22), as compared to the same period of time in the past year, Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO) announced.

IMIDRO said that more than 11.351 million tons of iron ore pellets were produced in the first quarter of the present year, while the figure was 9.37 million tons in the same time span of the previous year.

As reported, Golgohar Mining and Industrial Company was the largest producer of pellets during the three-month period with 3.332 million tons of production, followed by Middle East Mines and Mineral Industries Development Holding Company (MIDHCO) with 1.858 million tons, Sangan Mining Industries Company with 1.315 million tons, Chadormalu Mining and Industrial Company with 1.184 million tons, Opal Parsian Sangan Industrial and Mining Company with 953,090 million tons, and Sabanour Mining and Industrial Development Company with 132,713 tons.

In its outlook plan for the Iranian calendar year 1404 (2025-2026) Iran has envisaged production of 55 million tons of steel per annum, and to achieve this target the country requires to extract 160 million tons of iron ore.

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 September 2019.

The duty is aimed at encouraging the production of more processed minerals such as pellets and concentrate instead of selling the raw minerals.

MA/MA