China has been the biggest destination for Iran’s exports of minerals and mining products in terms of value in recent years, the latest data released by the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO) show.
Total exports reached 48.69 million tons worth $12.24 billion in the last Iranian year (March 2022-23).
With over 10.94 million tons worth $2.9 billion, China accounted for 22.5% of weight and 23.7% of value of last year’s total exports respectively.
It was followed by Iraq with 12.32 million tons worth $2.07 billion, Turkey with 1.48 million tons worth $1.85 billion, the UAE with 3.6 million tons worth $1.33 billion, Indonesia with 1.58 million tons worth $770 million, Oman with 1.89 million tons worth $492 million, Thailand with 868,000 tons worth $472 million, Pakistan with 1.24 million tons worth $237 million, India with 1.85 million tons worth $209 million, Afghanistan with 1.3 million tons worth $205 million, Turkmenistan with 854,000 tons worth $179 million, Azerbaijan Republic with 357,000 tons worth $164 million, Ghana with 327,000 tons worth $164 million, Armenia with 550,000 tons worth $137 million, Kuwait with 5.24 million tons worth $128 million, Georgia 320,000 tons worth $90 million, Jordan with 169,000 tons worth $81 million, South Korea with 93,000 tons worth $78 million, Uzbekistan with 167,000 tons worth $62 million and Russia with 570,000 worth $58 million.
Steel manufacturing chain products (iron ore, semi-finished and finished steel) topped the list of exports in terms of value with an aggregate of $5.76 billion, followed by copper and related products worth $1.57 billion and aluminum products worth $1.03 billion.
In terms of tonnage, cement and clinker topped the list with 13.32 million tons. Steel came next with 10.99 million tons and was followed by pellet with 5.42 million tons.
Exports of coal and coke saw the biggest jump in terms of value (630%) to reach $453.7 million, followed by iron ore pellets with $626.3 million (up 218%) and titanium with $100,000 (up 142%).
Exports of coal and coke had the highest growth in terms of weight (866%) with 1.52 million tons. It was followed by titanium (up 583%) with 300 tons and pellet (up 213%) with 5.42 million tons.
The IMIDRO statistics pertain to heavyweight producers only and does not take into account exports by small-scale mining companies. Therefore, overall exports from Iran are higher than the figures cited above.
IMIDRO’s data reviewing the past five years show total export value fell from $8.62 billion in the fiscal 2018-19 to $8.42 billion in the fiscal 2019-20 and further to $7.46 billion in the following year. They jumped to $13.24 billion in the fiscal 2021-22 before falling to last year’s level.
Exports to China rose from $1.47 billion to $2.47 billion from the fiscal 2018-19 to the fiscal 2019-20 before falling to $2.12 billion. They jumped to reach $3.98 billion in the fiscal 2021-22 before falling to last year’s level.
Imports Surge by 27% to Nearly $5b
According to IMIDRO, imports related to the mining industry and mineral products stood at 4.48 million tons worth $4.99 billion in the fiscal 2022-23 to register a 3.9% increase in weight and a 27.5% rise in value compared with the fiscal 2021-22.
The steel category also topped the list of imports in terms of value with $1.62 billion, followed by coal and coke worth $788.8 million and ferroalloys worth $615.8 million.
Coke and coal had the highest volume of imports in terms of weight with 1.43 million tons, followed by steel with 1.18 million tons and alumina powder with 432,300 tons.
The value of lead imports saw the biggest jump (up 791%) with $19.7 million. It was followed by antimony (488%) worth $4.5 million and zinc (352%) worth $37.1 million.
Lead had the highest growth of imports in terms of weight (915%) with 8,300 tons, followed by antimony (260%) with 300 tons and zinc (168%) with 60,800 tons.
Latest Data
Fresh data released by IMIDRO show heavyweight Iranian producers of minerals and mining products exported 4.68 million tons worth $951 million in the first month of the current Iranian year (March 21-April 20), to register a 55% and 12% year-on-year rise in tonnage and value respectively.
Steel manufacturing chain products (iron ore, semi-finished and finished steel) topped the list of exports in terms of value with an aggregate of $491.7 million, followed by iron ore pellets worth $125.3 billion and copper and related products worth $58.4 billion.
In terms of tonnage, pellet topped the list with 1.12 million tons. Cement and clinker came next with 1.01 million tons, followed by steel with 876.9 million tons.
Exports of direct reduced iron (DRI) saw the biggest jump in terms of value (153,686%) to reach $13.6 million, followed by molybdenum with $6.5 million (up 1,111%) and iron ore granule with $16.4 million (up 1,432%).
Exports of DRI had the highest growth in terms of weight (99,299%) with 49,700 tons. It was followed by pellet (up 1,084%) with 1.12 million tons and molybdenum (up 734%) with 200,000 tons.
IMIDRO’s statistics pertain to heavyweight producers only and does not take into account exports by small-scale mining companies. Therefore, overall exports from Iran are higher than the figures cited above.
The IMIDRO report also shows imports related to the mining industry and mineral products stood at 281,400 tons worth $300.6 million during the same period to register a 19% increase in weight and a 21% rise in value compared with last year’s same month.
The steel category also topped the list of imports in terms of value with $103.3 million, followed by coal and coke worth $51.7 million and ferroalloys worth $20.1 million.
Coke and coal had the highest volume of imports in terms of weight with 123,100 million tons, followed by steel with 69,500 tons and alumina powder with 20,100 tons.
The value of mica imports registered the biggest jump (up 160,053%) with $200,000. It was followed by lead (4,138%) worth $2 million and zinc (534%) worth $5.3 million.
Mica products also had the highest growth of imports in terms of weight (5,718,725%) with 200,000 tons, followed by molybdenum (7,102%) with 1,100 tons and chrome (312%) with 700,000 tons.
Mineral Riches
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, metallic minerals constitute 10-15% of total reserves and the rest are non-metallic minerals,” he added.
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.
Iran is home to more than 7% of global mineral reserves.
“Iran’s standing rose to fifth place in terms of global copper reserves,” vice president for development and exploration of the National Iranian Copper Industries Company said recently, adding that until recently, the country held the seventh largest copper reserves in the world.
“With recent discoveries in Sungun and the addition of 1 billion tons of new reserves to the mine in East Azarbaijan Province, as well as the discovery of new reserves in other mines of the company, including Sarcheshmeh, Miduk and a new mine near Sarcheshmeh in Kerman Province, the volume of the company's copper reserves has increased from 18 billion tons to 19 billion tons,” Behrouz Rahmati was also quoted as saying by Fars News Agency.
Sungun Complex, located in East Azarbaijan Province, is Iran’s largest copper mine.
Sarcheshmeh Copper Complex is the world’s second largest open cast copper mine located in Kerman Province. It also contains substantial amounts of molybdenum, gold and other rare metals.
“According to the United States Geological Survey’s latest report, following these explorations, the ranking of our country has risen to fifth place after Chile, Australia, Peru and Russia,” Rahmati said.
