Iran’s mining industry exported a record high of 52,507 million tons of products worth $11.84 billion during the 11 months to Feb. 19 to register a 7% increase in tonnage and a 79% rise in value year-on-year, a new report by the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization shows.
Steel manufacturing chain products (iron ore, semi-finished and finished steel) topped the list of exports in terms of value with an aggregate of $6.54 billion, followed by copper and related products with $1.87 billion and aluminum manufacturing chain products with $675.3 million.
In terms of tonnage, cement and clinker topped the list with 22.64 million tons. The steel category came next with 10.22 million tons, followed by stone and related products with 4.17 million tons.
Exports of the nickel category saw the biggest jump in terms of value (2,251% YOY) to reach $100,000, followed by pellet with $125.3 (up 1,238% YOY).
Exports of nickel had the highest growth in terms of weight (4,893%) with 70 tons, pellet came next (up 916% YOY) with 1.36 million tons and was followed by mica products (up 293% YOY) with 500 tons.
Imports Rise 14% to $3.4 Billion
The IMIDRO report also shows imports related to mining industry stood at 3.91 million tons worth $3.45 billion during the same period to register a 4% and 14% rise in weight and value compared with the same period of the year before.
The steel category also topped the list of imports in terms of value with $1.11 billion, followed by aluminum products with $556.5 million and coal and coke with $507.5 million.
Coke and coal had the highest volume of imports in terms of weight with 1.33 million tons followed by the steel category with 859,760 tons and aluminum with 835,880 tons.
The value of lead imports saw the biggest jump (up 252% YOY with $2 million). It was followed by coke and coal with $507.5 (up 98% YOY) and alumina powder with $216 (up 63% YOY).
The lead category had the highest growth of imports in terms of weight with 800 tons (406%) followed by the “pottery, brick, ceramic and tile” category with 55,660 tons (35%) and mica with 1,200 tons (31%).
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.
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.
TCCIM Report on Iran’s Operating Mines
According to a recent report by Tehran Chamber of Commerce citing the Statistical Center of Iran’s data, a total of 5,782 mines were operating in the country in the fiscal 2020-21, registering 16.2% growth compared to the year before.
In terms of number, sand mines accounted for the highest share of total operating mines with 1,463 (up 17.3% year-on-year) followed by limestone with 896 mines (down 8.6% YOY) and gravel with 773 mines (up 20.4% YOY).
Khorasan Razavi, Semnan and Fars provinces had the highest number of operating mines during the period with 567, 384 and 367 respectively and Gilan, Alborz and Ilam had the lowest with 54, 53 and 47 mines respectively.
A total of 120,327 people worked in Iran’s operating mines in the fiscal 2020-21, of whom 24,802 were ordinary workers, 33,932 skilled workers, 7,902 technicians, 9,612 engineers, 20,184 engaged in transportation and 23,895 worked in administrative and financial departments.
The number of workers increased by 12.4% compared with the year before.
Kerman, Yazd and Fars provinces with 30,449, 14,203 and 7,433 had the highest number of workers in operating mines.
Iron ore, copper ore and sand mines had the highest number of workers with 29,783, 17,137 and 13,881 people respectively. Notably, the number of female workers increased by 361 to 1,607 from 1,246 in the last fiscal year.
A total of 446.64 million tons of minerals worth 1.49 quadrillion rials ($5.5 billion) were produced in the year under review.
Kerman, Yazd and East Azarbaijan provinces had the highest value in annual production with 811.58 trillion rials ($2.99 billion), 259.53 trillion rials ($957.68 million) and 135.63 trillion rials ($500.48 million) respectively.
Iron ore, copper ore and sand mines had the highest annual production value with 853.95 trillion rials ($3.15 billion), 425.83 trillion rials ($1.67 billion) and 48.95 trillion rials ($180.63 million) respectively.
Iron ore, decorative stones and coal with 27.09 trillion rials ($99.96 million), 4.78 trillion rials ($17.64 million) and 4.31 trillion rials ($15.9 million) saw the highest volume of nominal investments.
Yazd, Kerman and South Khorasan Provinces had the highest volume of nominal investments in operating mines with 16.09 trillion rials ($59.37 million), 9.9 trillion rials ($36.53 million) and 5.16 trillion rials ($19.04 million) respectively.
From the total investments, 32.38 trillion rials ($119.48 million) were made in machinery, tools and equipment, 2.7 trillion rials ($9.96 million) in vehicles, 1.2 trillion rials ($4.4 million) in office supplies and equipment, 13.62 trillion rials ($50.26 million) in buildings and facilities (without taking land purchase into account), 1.02 trillion rials ($3.76 million) in roads, 3.1 trillion rials ($11.44 million) in development and exploration, and 142 billion rials ($523,985) in computer software.
The nominal value-added generated by the operating mines hit 1.25 quadrillion rials ($4.6 billion) in the fiscal 2020-21, registering a 152.12% growth year-on-year.
Kerman, Yazd and East Azarbaijan Province’s mines had the highest share of value added with 680.55 trillion rials ($2.51 billion), 211.82 trillion rials ($781.62 million) and 125.58 trillion rials ($463.39 million) respectively.
Iron, copper, lead and zinc ore mines generated the highest value-added with 683.35 trillion rials ($2.52 billion), 395.44 trillion rials ($1.46 billion) and 42.83 trillion rials ($158.04 million) respectively.
