A total of 31.08 million tons of minerals and mining products worth $7.06 billion were exported from Iran in the current fiscal year’s first seven months (March 21-Oct. 22).
According to the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization, this registered a 9% and 105% year-on-year growth in weight and value respectively.
Steel and related products topped the list of exports in terms of value with $4.05 billion, followed by copper and related products with $967.35 million and aluminum and related products with $390.06 million.
In terms of tonnage, the export of cement and related products topped the list with 12.39 million tons, which was followed by steel and related products with 6.13 million tons and stone and related products with 2.48 million tons.
Exports of direct-reduced iron (DRI) saw the biggest jump in terms of value (287% YOY) to stand at $159.27 million, followed by aluminum and related products with $390.06 (up 270% YOY).
Exports of ferrosilicon manganese had the highest growth in terms of weight (217%) with 400 tons. Alumina powder and mica came next (up 207% YOY each) with 1,180 tons and 320 tons respectively and aluminum and related products (up 151% YOY) with 158,390 tons.
Imports of mineral and mining products stood at 2.31 million tons worth $1.96 million during the same period to register a 1% and 11% growth in weight and value respectively compared with the same period of last year.
Steel and related products also topped the list of imports in terms of value with $699.37 million, followed by coal and coke with $233.9 million and ferromanganese with $136.24 million.
Coal and coke had the highest volume of imports in terms of weight with 707,080 tons and was followed by steel and related products with 572,980 tons and alumina powder with 210,960 tons.
The value of ferromolybdenum imports saw the biggest jump (up 378% YOY) with $60,000. It was followed by lead with $1.68 million (up 242% YOY) and DRI with $60,000 (up 162% YOY).
Exports of direct-reduced iron saw the biggest jump in terms of value (287% YOY) to stand at $159.27 million
Ferromolybdenum imports also had the highest growth in terms of weight (up 567% YOY) with 3,000 tons. It was followed by lead with 760,000 tons (up 533% YOY) and precious stones and metals (gold, silver, etc.) with 600 tons (up 158% YOY).
Iran’s export of mineral products stood at 55 million tons worth $7.6 billion in the last fiscal year (ended March 2021) to register a 21% and 11% year-on-year decline in total volume and value respectively.
According to IMIDRO, steel and related products topped the list of exports in terms of value with $4.1 billion and was followed by copper and related products with $958 million and cement and related products with $758 million.
In terms of tonnage, cement had the largest share with 24.3 million tons, followed by steel and related products with 9.69 million tons.
Alumina powder exports saw the biggest jump in terms of value (335% YOY) to reach $1.8 million, followed by aluminum and related products with $321 million (up 177% YOY).
Imports stood at 4.15 million tons worth $3.4 billion in the fiscal 2020-21, indicating a 13% increase in tonnage and a 6% growth in value compared with the year before.
Steel and related products also topped the list of mineral imports in terms of value with $1.3 billion, followed by coal and coke with $300 million. Aluminum and related products with $290 million came next.
The import value of steel and related products saw the biggest jump (39% YOY) to $1.37 million.
Mineral Diversity, Reserves
Iran is home to 81 types of minerals with reserves totaling 37-40 billion tons, according to Alireza Shahidi, the head of Geological Survey and Mineral Exploration of Iran.
“Construction materials, including gravel, rubble stones, sand and different types of stones, account for 62% of Iran’s mineral reserves, metal minerals constitute 10-15% of total reserves and the rest are non-metallic minerals,” he said.
“Gold reserves are increasing on a daily basis. Recently, new mines have been identified in South Khorasan Province, the reserves of which, we hope, should help increase the country’s mineral wealth to 100 billion tons.”
Shahidi noted that until 2015, the level of exploration and investments were in tandem, but a wide gap has now opened up between the two, suggesting that the costs of exploration are on the rise, IRNA reported.
He added that a total of 945,000 kilometers of land in Iran underwent exploration operations in the 2000s.
“The country’s mines are mostly close to the surface; [the exploitation of] hidden mineral reserves in the depths of the earth need to increase,” he said.
According to the United States Geological Survey, Iran holds the world's largest zinc, ninth largest copper, 10th largest iron ore, fifth largest gypsum and barite, and 10th largest uranium reserves.
Overall, Iran is home to more than 7% of global mineral reserves.
