The major global players in the wire industry will gather in Tehran to attend the second international exhibition on wire, cable, rod, and tube industries, known as Iran Wire 2014, IRNA reported.
The event, which will kick off on December 14, is seen as an opportunity for the domestic and foreign exhibitors from countries like Germany, Turkey, India, and China to showcase their latest products and achievements in the industry. At least 120 companies are expected to take part in the event, which is to display different types of wire and cable, raw material such as aluminum, copper, and steel wires, general and precision tools, packaging machines, and tubes.
Iran is the only country in the Middle East region, besides Turkey, which holds such an exhibition on the wire industry, while the international wire exhibitions are only held in countries such as Ukraine, Russia, the US, Germany, Japan, France, and the UK.
Wire production in the country started in 1965 through a partnership with Sweden. Currently, over 320,000 metric tons of wire and cable is produced by more than 170 companies across the country. About 20% of this amount is exported.
The big leap made in 2013 in producing 15.4 million metric tons of crude steel strengthened Iran’s position as the biggest producer of steel in the Middle East. It also contributed to the development of the downstream industries such as steel sections and wire products. Iran is now not only self- sufficient in manufacturing steel sections and wire products, but also exports them to neighboring countries, especially to Iraq and Afghanistan.
The strongest point possessed by Iran’s wire and cable industry is that the country has at least 14 million metric tons of copper reserves, which is equal to 3% of the total 470 million metric tons of the proven global reserves. The considerable amount puts Iran in the twelfth spot in the world and fourth in Asia in terms of proven copper reserves.
Turkey, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia are Iran’s main rivals in the region regarding technology and investment in the copper industry. They all have an advantage over Iran and that’s their low prices.
Iranian producers of wire, cables, and steel sections are highly active at the Iran Mercantile Exchange (IME), where the products are offered on the industrial and mineral products trading floor on a daily basis.
