Iran has reached self-sufficiency in the production of car batteries and is now focusing on exports.
Annually, 15 million car batteries are being produced in Iran, of which 4 million are exported, according to the head of the Battery Manufacturers and Sellers and Specialized Automotive Electric Services Association.
“In recent years, effective measures have been taken to produce 100% of the needed car batteries domestically and at present, we not only meet domestic demand, but are exporting more than 4 million batteries to neighboring countries annually,” Hossein Ali-Akbari also told IRIB News in an exclusive interview.
Currently, 10 million are used by the active car fleet and 1 million for car production lines, he added.
Akbari noted that at the beginning of the current fiscal year (March 21), car battery prices increased by 3.5% in the wholesale sector while prices remained stable in the retail sector.
“Recently, a factory increased prices by 11% without permission and we are following up this issue to bring them to the previous prices because the prices of raw materials and lead have declined and there is no need to increase the price,” he said,
According to the Iran Chamber of Guilds, it is mandatory to include the tracking code and ID of car spare parts and batteries in their invoices, the chamber’s news portal announced.
This is aimed at making it difficult for profiteers to sell unlicensed or smuggled batteries or other spare parts, as unofficial products will not receive these codes.
The announcement of the Iran Chamber of Guilds was as follows: All guilds in the fields of automotive spare parts are hereby informed that in order to combat the supply of counterfeit and smuggled goods, manufacturers and distributors, as well as wholesalers and retailers in real and virtual stores, are required to include tracking codes and product IDs in their official invoices.
Imported, Smuggled Brake Pads Meet 30-40% of Domestic Needs
While domestic production can meet the market demand for brake pads, currently imported and smuggled parts constitute 30-40% of the domestic market, said secretary of Iran’s Brake and Clutch Manufacturers Association.
Masoud Hassanpour added that the domestic brake pad production capacity exceeds 100,000 tons, Khabar Khodro reported.
“Domestic brake pad market’s demand is about 75,000 tons, which are met by domestic, imported and smuggled products, as well as products bought from border markets,” he said.
The official noted that in view of the domestic production capacity and export plans, the presence of imported and smuggled parts in the market is questionable.
“Since the market is aflush with imported brake pads, there is no demand for the domestic product. As there is no incentive, production has declined and it is lower than the domestic capacity. About 60-70% of domestic products and 30-40% [20,000-30,000 tons] of imported and smuggled goods meet the 75,000-ton demand of the Iranian market,” he said.
Hassanpour stated that it is possible to supply the market with good quality brake pads through domestic production, so the import of this product should be stopped.
“A large percentage of domestic brake pads are high-quality products, but some manufacturers produce low-quality products to reduce the price. If the import order is not registered by the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade, the total market share will be supplied by domestic producers,” he said.
The official stressed that as per the rules, if a domestic product meets the market demand in quantitative terms, then the import of a foreign counterpart should not be allowed, but the import order registration is continuing in violation of the rules.
“The entire market share need not be allocated to domestic pad makers, as our goal is that 10% of the market share should belong to imported brake pads and not 30%, because the domestic production capability is higher than domestic consumption,” he said.
“If there were no sanctions, domestic producers would have entered the markets of neighboring countries. As sanctions have made it difficult to transfer money, the export market for brake pads is limited.”
Hassanpour noted that Russia, Iraq and Azerbaijan are among the export destinations of brake pad manufacturers.
“Brake pad makers could undertake export with a volume of several thousand tons, but currently the export figure is insignificant,” he said.
