Deputy minister of industries, mining and trade, Mehdi Karbasian, says the government is making every effort to stop raw material exports in the steel sector. “The plan is to stop shipping iron ore to overseas markets and, in turn, develop concentrate and pellet manufacturing plants,” said the official, speaking to Mehr News Agency on Sunday. To this end, Karbasian said, the Industries Ministry is providing incentives such as loans to manufacturing projects as well as removing duties on exports of iron concentrate. “According to the ministry’s plans, raw material exports in the steel sector will come to a complete halt by the end of the current Iranian year (March 19, 2016), and manufacturing firms will move towards producing sponge iron and ingots.”
