Members of the 2015 nuclear deal’s Joint Commission decided on Tuesday to take a break from their ongoing negotiations on the agreement’s revival to allow delegations to hold consultations with their capitals before resuming work next week.
Members of the 2015 nuclear deal’s Joint Commission decided on Tuesday to take a break from their ongoing negotiations on the agreement’s revival to allow delegations to hold consultations with their capitals before resuming work next week.
The Iran Power Plant Repair Company have manufactured a rotor of steam turbines, the CEO said.
“The rotor that will be installed on 82.5 MW turbines cost $1.5 million and was built in six months,” Abdolrasoul Pishahang was quoted as saying by IRNA.
Importing it costs the Energy Ministry at least $3.5 million, he said, and added that the rotor with 2,539 blades can withstand temperatures as high as 550 degrees centigrade.
The 7% rise in water and electricity prices that take effect as of today (April 21) is no panacea for the deepening financial issues that have impaired the Energy Ministry, head of the Iran Association of Energy Service Companies said.
“Disparities between real electricity production costs including generation and transmission, and the revenue of the state-run Iran Power Generation, Distribution and Transmission Company (Tavanir) is so huge that raising tariffs even by 20% cannot help,” Saeed Mohazab Torabi was quoted as saying by ISNA.
It is inconceivable that a small increase in prices can help tackle a problem that will worsen in the coming years, he said. Power generation in Iran costs at least 3 cents per kilowatt-hour but consumers pay less than 1 cent per kWh.
The National Iranian Drilling Company, a subsidiary of National Iranian Oil Company, drilled 116 oil and gas wells in the last Persian calendar year (March 2020-2021), the managing director said.
“Of the total wells, 113 ones were drilled on land and three offshore,” Abdullah Mousavi said. “These included development wells, appraisal wells, and exploratory wells,” ISNA quoted him as saying.
About the West Karoun Oil Fields to the west, which Iran shares with Iraq, he said 12 wells were dug there.
A total of 71,500 tons of non-oil commodities worth $82 million were exported from Maragheh County of East Azarbaijan Province in the last Iranian year, registering a 19.66% decline in weight but a 57.7% rise in value compared with the year before.
Iran was ranked the world’s seventh biggest producer of cement in 2020 by the United States Geological Survey, with an output of 60 million tons.
The ranking is unchanged compared with 2019.
According to the report, global cement production also remained unchanged at 4.1 billion tons in 2020.
China was the world’s biggest producer of the construction material with 2.2 billion tons, posting no change compared to 2019. It was followed by India with 340 million tons.
A total of 10.38 trillion rials ($42 million) of losses have been caused to East Azarbaijan Province’s agriculture sector due to extreme weather and natural disasters since the beginning of the current Iranian year (March 21).
The number of flights to and from Turkey has decreased by 95% since the end of Norouz (Iranian New Year) holidays (April 2).
The number of lightweight livestock increased by 7.3 million head in the fourth quarter of last Iranian year (Dec. 21, 2020-March 20) compared with the corresponding period of the year before, the Statistical Center of Iran reported.
The rising demand by distributors has driven up the prices of cigarettes, the chairman of Tobacco Products Importers and Exporters Association said.
Mohammad Reza Tajdar added that all tobacco companies, except one, have yet to increase their base prices in the new Iranian year [started March 21].
“Given the new tax envisioned in the Budget Law of fiscal 2021-22, which is between 2.5 million rials and 5 million rials [$10-$20] per cigarette carton, the price of each pack of cigarettes will rise by 10,000 rials [four cents],” he was quoted as saying by ILNA.
The Consumer Price Index of “communications” stood at 179.2 in the 12th month of the fiscal 2020-21 (Feb. 19-March 20), indicating a 0.1% decline compared with the month before.
In fact, “communications” was the only group among the 12 groups of the basket of consumer goods and services purchased by households that saw a month-on-month price decrease, latest data released by the Statistical Center of Iran show.
The index, with a coefficient of 2.87%, registered a year-on-year increase of 20.3%.
The group’s average annual inflation stood at 16.5%.
Mobarakeh Steel Company is the largest steel producer of Iran, recording an 8% growth in its semi-finished steel output during the last fiscal year (ended March 20, 2021).
With a production of 9.84 million tons of semi-finished products, the company topped the list of Iranian steel mills.
The company’s output during the 12th month of the year (Feb. 19-March 20) increased by 24% to reach 915,311 tons, latest figures released by Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization show.
Mobarakeh also topped the list of steel producers in finished products. MSC and its subsidiary Saba Steel produced 8.03 million tons of finished steel in the last fiscal year, unchanged compared with the year before.
The governor of Central Bank of Iran says the bank is prepared to meet the foreign currency needs for importing Covid-19 vaccine.
In a note posted on his social media account, Abdolnasser Hemmati said the CBI allocated $100 million to vaccine purchase on Tuesday.
"Allocations will continue as per requests by the Health Ministry," he wrote in a note on Instagram.
The CBI gave subsidized currency for the vaccines (1 US dollar = 42,000 rials) – much less than a quarter of the rate in the free market.
Cheap currency is given only to import some basic goods, food, medicine and essential raw materials for manufacturing companies.
Currency rates in Tehran were choppy Tuesday with the dollar near the 240,000-rial support level in the free market.
Iran’s agricultural sector is getting a tech boost with 20 projects coming on stream with the backing of Agriculture Ministry and the private sector.
The ministry is supporting the project through its affiliate, Agricultural Research, Education and Expansion Organization.
Hossein Farazmand, secretary of Smart Agriculture Headquarters at AREEO, said these tech-based projects are focused on irrigation, poultry and livestock breeding, farming, orchard farming and smart greenhouses, IRNA reported.
“Development of smart irrigation systems is one of the projects confirmed by the Agriculture Ministry, which has received the operating license,” Farazmand said.
Farmers owning large tracts of lands find it difficult to physically monitor and manage them. For instance, uneven or excessive watering spoils crops and leads to financial losses. Smart irrigation can help address this issue.
“A smart irrigation system using the internet of things technology is helpful and leads to ease of farming. The system uses soil moisture sensors, making sure of adequate irrigation and curbing water waste,” the official explained.
An agricultural data monitoring center has also been launched experimentally.
The Iranian National Tax Administration has announced relief measures extended to tourism industry, which has been harshly hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The relief measures include exemption from late payment penalty. Taxpayers who cannot afford to pay their dues are allowed by the Economy Ministry to settle their debts in 36 installments (upon proof of their financial state).
The Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Ministry had proposed a value added tax delay to support the industry, saying that no transaction has been conducted over the past couple of months because all travel agencies were closed.
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