Iran exported $183 million worth of home appliances during the nine months to December 21, 2017, an official with the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran said.
Masoud Kamali Ardakani added that Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkey and Italy were the main customers of Iranian home appliances during the nine-month period, IRNA reported.
The exported products included evaporative cooler, fridge, gas appliances, sewing machine and washing machine.
According to Secretary-General of Home Appliances Association Habibollah Ansari, Iran’s home appliance industry has a turnover of $8 billion and meets 70% of domestic demand.
“All household appliance parts and accessories, except for compressors used in refrigeration systems, are domestically produced,” Ansari had told Financial Tribune in September.
According to the director general of Metal Products and Home Appliances Department at the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade, there are 1,000 licensed household appliance production units in Iran.
“They are operating at 70-75% of their production capacity,” Abbas Hashem added.
In general, Hashemi said, the nominal production capacity of energy-intensive home appliances stands at 18 million units per year.
“Over 12 million units are produced, depending on the financial status of the manufacturer, market conditions and people’s purchasing power. Notably, some 85% of famous foreign brands available in the Iranian market, especially South Korean ones, are produced inside the country under the license and inspection of parent companies,” he added.
The provinces of Tehran, Alborz, Khorasan Razavi, East Azarbaijan, Isfahan and Qazvin are the main hubs of home appliances production in Iran.
Hamidreza Ghaznavi, a spokesman of Home Appliances Manufacturers Union, said earlier this month that home appliance prices have increased by about 5% compared with a month ago.
“The main reason for the increase is the 5-20% rise in the price of steel and petrochemical products in the market, which constitute the raw materials for the home appliance industry as well as fluctuations in foreign exchange rates,” he was quoted as saying by ISNA.
According to Industries Minister Mohammad Shariatmadari, Iran’s home appliance industry accounts for 0.7% of the country’s gross domestic product.
The Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade is targeting the export of $600 million, $1.6 billion and $3 billion worth of home appliances in the current Iranian year (ending March 20, 2018), 2020-21 and 2025-26 respectively.
Deputy Industries Minister Reza Rahmani said the annual production of 16 million products by March 2026 is also among the targets, as plans are underway to establish at least one global Iranian brand of home appliances.
Referring to refrigerator production, Rahmani said goals have been set to produce 2.7 million refrigerators by the yearend, around 3.2 million in 2020-21 and nearly 4 million in 2025-26.
China, the UAE, South Korea, Turkey, Thailand, Italy and Germany are major exporters of home appliances to Iran. The main appliances imported into Iran include split air conditioners, refrigerators and small appliances.
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