Iran Mercantile Exchange is planning to start bitumen exports to India, chief executive of the commodity exchange, Hamed Soltani-Nejad, announced.
“Iranian bitumen will be sold to India based on an agreement between the two countries’ commodity exchanges. When finalized, traders in India can directly access IME to make their purchase,” the official was quoted as saying by IRNA.
According to Soltani-Nejad, India purchases close to half of Iran’s annual bitumen production.
The official believes the move to offer bitumen exports to India via IME can help manage its price and quality.
Soltani-Nejad noted that the main issues delaying the agreement’s finalization are the banking system’s limitations and India’s insistence on using rupees in transactions.
According to deputy minister of roads and urban development, Kheirollah Khademi, an estimated 1.2 million tons of bitumen are produced in Iran annually.
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