More than 25.7 million metric tons of iron ore concentrate and iron ore pellets were produced during the first 3 quarters of the current Iranian year (from March 21 to December 21, 2014), IRNA reported on Monday.
According to a report published by the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO), the amount was yielded from 39.2 million metric tons of iron ore extracted by the country’s eight major producers on top of which were Chadormalu in the central province of Yazd and Golegohar in the southeastern Kerman province, which produced 9 and 7.5 million metric tons of the raw material respectively.
Earlier, deputy minister of industries, mine, and trade Ja’far Sarqini said Iran’s proven iron ore reserves are 2.7 billion metric tons in volume, adding that if new explorations are not carried out by the next ten years, the shortage of iron ore will be the biggest challenge in the steel sector.
The deputy minister’s recent comments come as iron ore exports have decreased during the past months.
The decline in the export of the raw material started in May last year and hit the lowest in November with only 15,000 metric tons – almost 99% down from April’s 1.4 million metric tons.
Global iron ore prices have significantly dropped from $136 per metric ton at the beginning of 2014 to nearly $75, causing serious concerns for the producers and exporters of the raw material. Experts say if global prices remain low, many small private iron ore mines will have to close down within two or three year’s time.
