The Ninth International Iran Stone Exhibition, Natural Stone, Quarry, Machinery and Equipment, otherwise known as IRSE 2017, is scheduled to be held in Tehran’s International Fairground from July 10 to 13.
More than 240 Iranian and foreign companies from Germany, Italy, India, China, Turkey, Afghanistan, Greece and South Korea, representing factories active in manufacturing stone cutting, mining, excavation and processing machinery, will take part in the exhibition to showcase their latest products, services and technology, Mizan Online reported.
According to the report, the exhibition has been organized with the aim of expanding Iran’s exports, increasing domestic production, improving the business environment and introducing Iran’s capacities in the stone industry to global markets.
Iran has the world’s fourth biggest stone reserves. Its ornamental stone reserves alone amount to 4 billion tons. At present, some 1,800 stone mines and 6,000 stone-cutting factories are active in the country.
Iran’s nominal stone production capacity stands at 27 million tons per year. Yet, in the last Iranian year (March 2016-17), only 10 million tons of stones were produced in the country.
In other words, the volume of production was about 63% less than the nominal capacity. Moreover, the nominal capacity of the processing sector is 160 million square meters per year, but the actual capacity has declined to 60-70 million square meters per annum in recent years.
Annual stone exports stand close to $200 million, most of which pertain to unprocessed stones.
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