Chador Factory Reopened in Shahr-e-Kord

A factory producing black chador (a full-body semicircular piece of fabric, usually black, used by some Muslim women to cover the body while leaving the face uncovered) reopened in Shahr-e-Kord in Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari Province.

Speaking at the ceremony on Tuesday, Minister of Industries, Mining and Agriculture Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh said, “Currently, the factory has the capacity to produce 10 million square meters of the fabric per year.”

The factory was closed down in 2012 due to financial problems.

Nematzadeh noted that plans are underway to increase the production capacity in future by adding more machinery.

Earlier, the ministry declared that domestic demand for chador stands at approximately 80 million square meters per annum.

A study by Majlis Research Center last year showed Iran spends on average $42 million annually for the import of the black fabric used for chador, while domestic production meets only about 1% of the demand.

This fabric is mostly imported from South Korea, China, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia and India.

During 2005-12, Iran imported approximately 505 million square meters of black fabrics used for chador, valued at $333 million. Imports increased by threefold after the government reduced import tariffs on the black fabrics in 2007.

However, the reduced import tariffs led to a price hike in the domestic market.

The parliamentary study declared that domestic production units have the capacity to manufacture around 30 million square meters of the fabric annually, which constitute 30-40% of domestic demand.