Petchem Products To Overtake Crude Exports

First Vice-President Mohammad Reza Rahimi lauded the country’s engineers and experts, and said exports of petrochemical products will soon exceed crude oil exports in value.
“Petrochemical products will replace crude oil as first (energy) export commodity in the near future because it is what the Leader (Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei), President (Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) and the Iranian nation want,” Rahimi said in the Southern city of Ahvaz in Khuzestan province on Saturday.
According to Fars News Agency, he said that petrochemical products rank second after crude oil in terms of export value.
In remarks earlier this month, Rahimi praised Iranian scientists and experts for their achievements and breakthroughs, and said Iran will soon come to stand among the world’s first 10 top countries in area of science production despite the US-led Western sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
He added that Iran’s position has improved between 8 to 15 times in the past four years due to its advancements in hi-tech and modern technologies.
According to a report released by IRNA on Saturday, Iran exported 3.72 million tons of petrochemical products worth $3.53 billion in 11 months of current year.
The report added that Liquid gas, weighing 1.44 million tons, accounts for the main item in the basket of petrochemical exports.
Meanwhile, Iran Petrochemical Company Director for Marketing Department Jamshid Mohammadi said polymer products account for about 80 percent of domestic sales.

January Steel Production Over 1m Tons

Iran came to be known as the world’s 17th steel producer with a total production of over 1million tons of steel last month, the World Steel Association (WSA) announced.
According to the WSA’s latest report, Iran produced a total of 1.111 million tons in January and ranked 17th among the world’s 62 steel producers.
The world’s total steel production hit 124.799 million tons in January which showed a 0.8-percent growth in comparison with last year’s corresponding period.
Iran produced 14.463 million tons of crude steel last year, and was the first largest producer of crude steel in the Middle-East and North Africa, WSA said.
The country’s main steel mills are located in Isfahan and Khuzestan provinces.
Iran has increased its steel production output by more than 9 percent, the WSA announced in January.
Last month, Managing-Director of Mobarakeh Steel Company Mohammad Massoud Sami’inejad announced that Iran “is the biggest steel producer in the Middle East and North Africa”.

Envoy Offers Help to Kyrgyz Transport Projects

Tehran’s Ambassador to Bishkek Ali Najafi in a meeting with Kyrgyz Minister of Transport and Communications Kalykbek Sultanov underlined Iran’s preparedness to help Kyrgyzstan in technical and engineering fields.
During the meeting in the Kyrgyz capital city of Bishkek on Saturday, the Iranian and Kyrgyz officials explored avenues for the expansion of bilateral transport ties between the two countries, and underlined the need for easing mutual transit and transportation cooperation between the two countries, Fars News Agency reported.
The envoy pointed to Iran’s capabilities in the field of technical and engineering services as well as the infrastructural projects in the field of transportation, and voiced Iran’s readiness to transfer its experiences to Kyrgyzstan in these areas.
The Kyrgyz minister of transport and communication expressed his country’s readiness for bolstering and reinvigorating bilateral ties with Iran in transit and transportation.
Earlier this week, Najafi stressed Tehran and Bishkek’s abundant commonalities, and said increasing cooperation between the two countries will consolidate peace and stability in the region.
He said that Iran’s presidency over the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and Kyrgyzstan’s presidency over the Shanghai Cooperation Organization have paved the ground for their joint assistance to the strengthening of peace and stability in the region and the world.
Iran and Kyrgyzstan have recently expanded their bilateral ties and mutual cooperation in different fields.

Transit Increases by 14.7%

Domestic Economy Desk

Some 10.52 million tons of commodities were transited during the 11 months of current Iranian year (started on March 20), showing an increase of 14.7 percent compared to the figure for the same period of preceding year.
Head of Road Maintenance and Transportation Organization Shahryar Afandizadeh said the volume of goods transited through roads rose by 16.2 percent compared with the figure for the past year, adding rail transit reduced by 1.7 percent, ISNA reported.
He said Bandar Abbas (Hormuzgan province) with 31.4 percent of cargo transportation, Parvizkhan terminal (Kermanshah province) with 25.6 percent, Bazargan terminal (West Azarbaijan province) with 10.1 percent, and Bashmaq terminal (Kurdestan province) with 9.3 percent were the most active border points nationwide in terms of importing commodities respectively.
He also said Imam Khomeini Port (Khuzestan province) with 27.5 percent was the most active border in terms of exporting transit followed by Bandar Abbas with 10.9 percent and Bashmaq with 9.3 percent.
“Oil and petrochemical products, construction material, various types of cotton and thread, home appliances and vegetable oil were the major commodities imported via the country during the period,” Afandizadeh added.
In January, Afandizadeh said about 8.482 million tons of commodities were transited during the nine months of current Iranian year (March 20-Dec. 20, 2012), showing a growth of 17.1 percent compared to the figure for the same period of preceding year.
He said the figure exceeded the target of the Fifth Economic Development Plan (2010-15).

Iran, Pakistan to Sign Economic Deals This Week

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari is due to pay a visit to Iran in the next few days to sign several agreements on economic cooperation.
In addition to meetings with high-ranking Iranian officials, Zardari is scheduled to sign different cooperation agreements, including an agreement to finalize a deal on Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project during the visit which will take place at the invitation of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Fars News Agency reported.
On Wednesday, Iranian and Pakistani oil ministers inaugurated construction of the 781-km Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline in Pakistan’s soil.
An Iranian-Pakistani joint contractor has been commissioned to begin construction of the IP gas pipeline.
The Iranian oil minister and his accompanying delegation agreed with their Pakistani counterpart to set up a joint contracting company between the two countries in a bid to complete the construction of the IP gas pipeline in next 15 months.
The mega project will come on stream in December 2014.

Mineral Exports Up 21%

Domestic Economy Desk

Iran exported some 23.297 million tons of minerals worth $2.233 billion during the 10 months of current year.
Deputy Industry, Mine and Trade Minister Vajihullah Jafari said that the figures show some 20 percent and 21 percent increase compared to those for the same period of the preceding year, IRNA reported.
About 19.378 million tons of minerals worth $1.844 billion were exported during the same period of preceding year.
He said the value of mineral exports is expected to hit $3 billion by the end of the current year, noting about 73.3 percent of the target set for mineral exports have so far been achieved.
Jafari also said a significant growth in investment is a prerequisite for increasing exports.
Attracting investment is the main policy adopted by the ministry for mining sector, he said, adding a direct relationship should be established between mine discovery, extraction and processing.
Jafari said last week that production of mineral industries achieved 3-10 percent rise during 10 months of current Iranian year. He referred to the 21-percent growth of exploration of metal industries last year and said, “Despite high risk for investment in exploration due to rise in price of metal materials, private sector has an eye-catching presence in this field.”

Tribals to Help Red-Meat Self-Sufficiency

Domestic Economy Desk

Iran’s tribal society plans to increase red meat output to 50,000 tons to help the country attain self-sufficiency, announced head of Tribal Affairs Organization.
Jahanshah Seddiq told Fars News Agency that the organization signed an agreement worth 100 billion rials with Development Fund for Supporting Agriculture to increase red meat output across two provinces of North Khorasan and Khorasan Razavi. Also, another 100 billion rials has been given to the fund again, he said.
Tribal Affairs Organization pursues production cycle including fattening units and marketing, he added. “Because, we believe that we should support the producer until the sale of the product.”
He continued saying, “We can cover five million head of livestock with implementation of self-sufficiency program within five years. “
The tribal society annually produces 180,000 tons of red meat, he said, estimating that the figure would rise to 230,000 tons within five years.
“Our main problem is financial facilities. With a credit worth 100 billion rials, we achieved to implement red meat self-sufficiency only across two provinces. If the budget rises, the plan will be implemented in a larger scale.”

776,000 Tons of Minerals Extracted From Angouran Mine

Domestic Economy Desk

Close to 776,000 tons of minerals were extracted from Angouran mine during the past 11 months of current Iranian year (March 20, 2012-Feb. 18, 2013).
It is beyond the target figure of 700,000 tons per year, Mehr News Agency reported.
Manager of Angouran mine, Abutaleb Ashkevari, said “As far as we move forward into the depth of Angouran mine, the exploration operations become more difficult. Therefore, we consider a certain annual amount for extracting Angouran mine.”
Angouran is a mine which becomes deeper year by year, he added. “Therefore, raising exploration capacity is not logical.”
“We have launched a pilot underground workshop. All of its preparation measures will be completed by March 2014. The exploration operations will resume as of March 20, 2014.”
Exploration operations in an open-air mine (a huge basin with rows that are dug by layers of rock being successively scraped) is more economically viable, he said, because, underground mines have many risks and costs.
Angouran’s lead and zinc proven reserves are 9 million tons and its potential reserves have been reported at 13 million tons.

Agro Expo

The Third International Exhibition of Agricultural Products and Information Technology inaugurated in Tehran on Saturday.