TEHRAN – Production of iron ore pellets in Iran increased by 228 percent in the first eight months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-November 21), as compared to the same period of time in the past year, the data released by the Industry, Mining and Trade Ministry showed.

As reported, the country has exported $343 million of iron ore pellets in the mentioned eight-month period of this year.

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, create more value-added and meet the requirements of domestic producers for 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