Iron concentrate production lines to launch by private sector in the second half of this year
18 Apr 2014 22:15
(Minews) - Mehrdad Akbarian, Chairman of Iron Ore Producers and Exporters Association, announced launch of iron concentrate production lines by private sector in the second half of this year and called on government to withdraw duties on export of iron concentrate in order to boost the sector and accelerate building of concentrate production lines.
Slump of iron ore price in global market in 2014 has led to slowing investment and stagnant in the sector, said Akbarian during a news conference of Iron Ore Producers and Exporters Association.
Exploration of new iron ore deposits would be one of the main plans of the association and its members, he added.
He also noted that we don’t expect high price for iron ore this year and forecast continued decline in iron ore price so we have to lower costs of production through enhancement of productivity in mines and use of modern technology.
Last year, export of iron ore amounted to 23.5 million tons with value of 1.5 billion dollars, according to official data. The released data showed that Iran produced 30.5 million tons iron ore in the last year. Private sector accounts for approximately 12 to 13 million tons of total export and 15 to 16 million tons of total iron ore production. About 3 to 3.5 million tons of iron ore produced by private sector, consumed by domestic steel mills and cement plants.
First Iranian iron ore producers and exporters conference is set to hold on April 27 in IRIB conference center in Tehran, focusing on challenges in production and trade of iron ore.
Story Code: 6861