A stock of 3 million hoarded masks was confiscated in Tehran on Tuesday, the director general of Tehran’s Tazirat Organization (a judiciary-affiliated oversight entity dealing with trading offenses) said.
“Another hoarded stock containing 500,000 masks was seized on Monday. These masks have been delivered to medical universities to be distributed in state-owned hospitals,” IRIB News also quoted Mohammad Ali Esfanani as saying.
The Consumer and Producer Protection Organization added that it would take legal action against hoarders and those who sell masks at inflated prices.
People have been called to contact the hotline 135, if they find out about any hoarded goods or instances of profiteering.
Mohammad Reza Shanesaz, the head of Food and Drug Administration of Iran, has spoken of a plan to distribute facemasks free of charge and ban their sales in pharmacies.
Shanesaz had said earlier this week that pharmacies would be barred from ordering new batches of masks and that they will only be allowed to sell what they have in stock.
“The price set for three-layer mask is 4,100 rials [about 2 cents] and all pharmacies and distribution centers are required to sell their products at the same price,” Mehdipour was quoted as saying by Fars News Agency.
Minister of Industries, Mining and Trade Reza Rahmani has ordered all producers of filtered masks and different types of disinfectant and cleansing products to work round the clock to supply the increasing domestic demand in the wake of the new coronavirus outbreak.
“The raw material these production units need have been provided and there is no shortage at present,” Fars News Agency quoted Rahmani as saying.
According to the minister, the country has the capacity to produce 2 million masks per day and the annual capacity for liquid and bar soaps stands at 250,00 tons and 55,000 tons respectively.
According to Seyyed Hossein Safavi, the director of the Medical Equipment and Supplies Department of Health Ministry, there are 15 producers of masks in Iran.
The Health Ministry’s request to ban the exports of cotton facemasks was agreed to by the Market Regulation Headquarters on Feb. 3.
“The committee responsible for levying export tariffs affiliated with the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran will soon take the necessary measures in this respect,” Mohammad Reza Kalami, the spokesman of the headquarters, was quoted as saying by IRNA.
Feysal Mardasi, an advisor to the Iranian Association for Hygienic Cellulose Industry, said at the onset of the outbreak of coronavirus in China, Chinese traders were buying facemasks from Iran, pre-purchasing almost all of what was produced in the country.
“In view of the current circumstances and the rise in domestic demand for facemasks, exports of the product have to be banned so that the local market stays balanced,” Mardasi was quoted as saying by ILNA.
“Raw materials to make masks are all produced domestically in Iran,” says Kayvan Gardan, an official with the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade.
“Producers operating at 20-30% of their capacity have now boosted their output. Health and industries ministries are doing their best to resolve problems associated with mask production. Since 10 years ago, the country has become self-sufficient in producing facemasks.”
Manufacturers of cleaning and disinfectant products have been instructed to increase their output by 30% to meet domestic demand following the outbreak of the new coronavirus in the country.
According to Bakhtiar Alambeigi, the head of Iran Association of Producers of Cleaning, Cosmetic and Hygienic Products' board of directors, there will not be any price rise until the end of the next Iranian year’s first month (March 20-April 20).
He noted that the country has the capacity to double production, ILNA reported.
Referring to shortage of disinfectant gels and liquids on the market, Alambeigi explained that producers have until now been working based on ‘normal’ circumstances, adding that there will be no shortage by the end of the week (Friday).
According to the official, Iran imports only 10% of the raw materials needed in related industries (colorants and scents).
