Cables and wires are everywhere. From the tiniest strand of wire powering a light in your room to the huge underground cables driving the metro train, they are the veins of the ever-throbbing modern life.
Iran was one of the pioneers of the cable and wire industry in the Middle East, as it started production with a diverse portfolio about 50 years ago.
Today, the country’s 170 production plants manufacture over 300,000 tons of cables and wires every year, the Persian daily Forsat-e Emrooz reported.
According to Hossein Haqbayan, the head of Iran Wire and Cable Employers and Manufacturers’ Association, the domestic cable and wire production sector’s annual output not only meets nearly all the domestic demand, but is also able to venture beyond the borders.
He noted that Iran exports over $140 million worth of cables and wires to Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria as well as Central Asian and African countries every year.
“This is while production plants are operating at one-third of their actual capacity due to ongoing recession and reduced demand. If the overall situation improves, we can increase production and create close to 90,000 jobs,” he said.
The main hurdles facing the sector, according to Haqbayan, include low-quality products made by unlicensed manufacturers and the government’s delay in project payments.
“Many domestic producers use unskilled and unlicensed workers and manufacture substandard products, the use of which can be highly dangerous and even deadly. The government must bolster efforts to combat these practices,” he said.
The official emphasized that the current maximum fines of $60 are not going to solve any problem while violators earn up to $2,000 in profit on each sale.
Haqbayan criticized the government for not settling its debts. He noted that the delay in payment shrinks the companies’ production capacity and prevents them from undertaking new projects.
