Oil prices fell on Wednesday over fresh concerns about demand after data showed China's first-half crude imports dropped, but were still holding near a one-week high amid worries about supplies as the world recovers from the coronavirus pandemic.
Oil prices fell on Wednesday over fresh concerns about demand after data showed China's first-half crude imports dropped, but were still holding near a one-week high amid worries about supplies as the world recovers from the coronavirus pandemic.
Thermal power stations are operating at full capacity and their output has grown by 14% in the first four months of the current fiscal year (started March 21) compared with the corresponding period of last year, the head of Technical Affairs Department of the Thermal Power Plants Holding Company said.
“Thermal power plants generated 106 million megawatt hours of electricity in the 114-day period. The figure barely stood at 93 million megawatt hours a year ago,” Esmaeil Namazi was also quoted as saying by ILNA.
The whole national power grid, including power plants, transmission substations and distribution networks, is functioning efficiently to avoid outages, he added.
The first well of Nasr 5 satellite platform in Sivand Oilfield in the Persian Gulf has become operational to help increase oil production in the field, managing director of the Drilling Company International said.
“With the activities of PetroIran Development Company to boost oil production in Dena, Esfand and Sivand fields, as well as the drilling and successful completion of three wells, the first production well of Nasr 5 platform has been launched, which increases the field’s production capacity by 2,000 barrels per day,” Hamidreza Saqafi was also quoted as saying by the Oil Ministry’s news agency Shana.
Referring to the unique conditions of Nasr 5 platform, he said, “Due to the unconventional dimensions of the platform and the instability of the seabed at its location as well as the limitations caused by power cables and entry and exit lines to the platform, using conventional drilling rigs in the Persian Gulf on this platform was impossible and as a result, drilling operations did not happen in the past decades.”
Tapping into seawater and developing desalination plants to quench the thirst in parched areas, especially in southern regions which have long been suffering from acute water paucity, remain a top priority, the energy minister said.
“Seventy plus desalination plants that process 309,000 cubic meters of saline water per day were launched in the past 10 years and cost $250 million,” the Energy Ministry’s news service quoted Reza Ardakanian as saying.
The projects were mostly funded by the National Development Fund of Iran, the country's sovereign wealth fund.
Dried fruits and nuts exports stood at 128,000 tons worth $319 million in the first quarter of the current fiscal year (March 21-June 21), registering a 19% and 28% growth in weight and value respectively year-on-year, according to Mahmoud Bazari, an official with the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran.
From the total export value, 63% belonged to pistachio with $204 million, registering a 33% growth YOY, the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran's news portal reported.
The tonnage of pistachio exports stood at 30,000 tons to register a 39% YOY rise.
India, Chine, Germany, Iraq, the UAE, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey and Kazakhstan were the main export destinations of Iranian pistachio, which was exported to 80 countries during the period.
A total of three million households have registered their properties on the National Property and Housing Database so far, Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mohammad Eslami said on Monday.
“The ministry has identified 1.3 million empty homes and according to the law of the country, the Iranian National Tax Administration is required to start taxing them as of July 23,” he was quoted as saying by the Persian daily Etemad.
“Psychological propaganda created around the National Property and Housing Database has discouraged many people from submitting their housing information to the ministry; very few people have registered on the database.”
A new report by Iranian Steel Producers Association shows Iranian steelmakers have recorded a significant rise in exports during the first quarter of the current fiscal year (March 21-June 21) compared with last year’s corresponding period.
They exported a total of 1.62 million tons of semi-finished products in Q1, up 55% year-on-year.
Billet and bloom had the lion’s share of semis exports with an aggregate of 1.06 million tons, 26% higher than the previous corresponding period.
Slab exports stood at 563,000 tons during the period, up 176% YOY.
Exports of finished steel products jumped by 125% to 873,000 tons during the three months under review.
The average goods and services Consumer Price Index of “education” in the 12-month period ending June 21, which marks the end of the third Iranian month of fiscal 2021-22, increased by 22.3% compared with last year’s corresponding period.
The government has bought a total of 3.55 million tons of wheat worth 180 quadrillion rials ($721.87 million) from local farmers across the country so far this crop year, which shows a 30% decline compared with the similar period of last year.
More than 7 million tons of essential goods have piled up in the ports and customs offices across the country, says deputy head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration, Mehrdad Jamal Orounaqi.
The eighth weekly bond auction held Tuesday by the government in the present fiscal year was again disregarded.
Forex rates declined on Wednesday in Iran as positive reports about Iran’s access to its overseas frozen assets weakened sentiment in the currency market.
The dollar lost more than 1.2% or 3,000 rials to retreat to 244,600 rials in the open market. The greenback was relatively stable and traded around 249,000 rials in the past two weeks.
Market observers say currency dealers and speculators were perturbed about reports that the US is to allow Iran access to a portion of its frozen assets in South Korea and Japan.
The American newspaper Washington Free Beacon reported Wednesday that the US would waive sanctions on Iran's oil trade so that the country can access frozen funds from South Korea and Japan.
Banks and credit institutions paid 4976.9 trillion rials ($20.2 billion) in loans to businesses in during the first three months of the current fiscal year that started on March 21.
The lending increased by 2071.7 trillion rials ($8.42b) or 71.3% compared to the same period last year, according to data released by the Central Bank of Iran.
As is the norm, working capital loans topped the list with 3466.4 trillion rials ($14.09b) accounting for 69.6% of the total.
Companies involved in mining and industries were the main recipients of working capital loans at 1269.7 trillion rials ($5.16b) representing 36.6% of total. Part of the growth could be linked to inflation and devaluation of the national currency,
Tehran’s share market eked out a subtle gain at the close of trading week on Wednesday, putting the weekly advance at the Tehran Stock Exchange at 1.75%.
This is the fourth week in a row that the TSE has posted a weekly gain, indicating that the market is recovering from one its longest bearish trends that lasted for almost a year.
The TSE's main gauge, TEDPIX, gained 1,601 points or 0.12% Wednesday to end trading at 1,305,490.69. Its equal-weighted index was up 0.3%, indicating a better performance of small caps.
About 7.84 billion shares valued at 63.79 trillion rials ($255.17 million) changed hands at TSE for the day. Loghman Pharmaceutical & Hygienic Company was the biggest winner as its shares went up 5.88% to 39,230 rials per share.
Banks and credit institutions lent 127 trillion rials ($520 million) to 558 knowledge-based companies in the first three months (March 21-June 21) of the current fiscal year.
Data released by the Central Bank of Iran indicate borrowing increased a whopping 247% compared to the first quarter of last year.
Three banks topped the list. The privatized Bank Mellat and Bank Saderat Iran, and state-owned Bank Melli Iran together accounted for about 55% of the loans.
A large portion came from Bank Melli with 30.2 trillion rials ($123m). Bank Saderat and Bank Mellat gave 19.7 trillion rials ($80.4m) and 19.2 trillion rials, respectively.
The Central Bank of Iran has published rules for the establishment of credit rating firms.
The companies are required to analyze clients' financial records and provide them reports on the creditworthiness of individuals or corporates by assigning scores on a scale of "very poor", "poor", "average", "good" or "very good", in accord with CBI requirements, the bank's website reported.
Ratings will be decided after assessing the financial performance of the customer within a fixed period plus solvency, ability and willingness to pay. The score will indicate credibility and discipline in meeting debt obligations in a precise manner.
For example, customer deferral in paying small debts, such as utility bills, will be considered as unwillingness to pay. However, if the default is due to bankruptcy or force majeure, it would suggest insolvency.
The Securities and Exchange Organization is set to revise trading fees it charges investment funds to improve their efficiency.
According Meisam Fadaee, the SEO deputy for supervising financial institutions, fees henceforth will vary and based on performance.
As per current procedures, investment funds charge a fixed 2% on trade value of the fund regardless of the fund’s return.
“In the past, the performance of a fund had relevance on fees they charged on deals,” Fadaee was quoted as saying by the Securities and Exchange News Agency.
After rallying two sessions in a row, Tehran stocks went into correction phase on Tuesday as the benchmark of Tehran Stock Exchange failed to advance above the resistance level of 1.3 million point.
TEDPIX, the main gauge of TSE, lost 414 points or 0.03% to end trading at 1,303,921. The TSE’s equal-weighted index shed 0.08%, indicating that both small and large caps had a lukewarm performance.
Main losers were agriculture, metal, electronic, cement and transportation stocks while shares in banks, pharmaceutical, refinery and mineral companies were among the top gainers.
Total value of trade declined 51% to reach 164.2 trillion rials ($670 million). However trade by retail investor increased 9.3% compared with a session earlier, amounting to 73.86 trillion rials ($301m).
The Iranian government has provided loans totaling 34 trillion rials ($136 million) to transportation enterprises affected by the coronavirus pandemic as of May, an official with the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development said on Tuesday.
Mohsen Sadeqi added that the money makes up 72% of the financial support worth 48 trillion rials ($192 million) allocated to the transportation sector, IRNA reported.
According to the official, the lending encompasses air, rail and road transportation sectors.
“Close to 155,000 of the total 203,000 applications were submitted by bus, minibus and taxi drivers, who each received a loan of 160 million rials [$640] with a 12% interest rate and a two-year repayment period,” he added.
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