The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog on Tuesday underscored the urgency of resuscitating diplomatic efforts to address Iran’s nuclear issue, saying the situation could quickly worsen if negotiations fail.
The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog on Tuesday underscored the urgency of resuscitating diplomatic efforts to address Iran’s nuclear issue, saying the situation could quickly worsen if negotiations fail.
The Iranian Air Force on Wednesday dispatched the second consignment of relief aid to the areas affected by a devastating earthquake that has killed thousands of people in southeast Turkey and northern Syria.
The production capacity of South Pars fourth refinery will increase in the near future, the director of the refinery said.
Noting that the rise in output has been planned to prevent gas shortage in the country, especially in the cold seasons, Behzad Salari added that the fourth refinery is scheduled to receive gas from the Kish Gas Field, which will be developed in about a year, the Oil Ministry’s news service reported.
The fourth refinery of the South Pars Gas Complex is one of the 13 refineries, which processes about 85 million cubic meters of sour gas supplied by three platforms in phases 6, 7 and 8 of the giant South Pars Gas Field, shared by Iran and Qatar in the Persian Gulf, on a daily basis, he said, noting that the refinery’s products includes sweet gas, ethane, propane and butane.
Oil prices were little changed on Wednesday amid subdued movements in the dollar, and as investors waited for more inventory data for more clues on demand trends.
Iran's gas export to Iraq, which was halted for about two weeks, has been resumed, the head of dispatching operations at the National Iranian Gas Company said.
“The halt of export to the neighboring country was based on a previous agreement and had been planned months ago,” Mohammad Reza Joulaei was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
Iraq’s Ministry of Electricity announced in a statement last week that the stoppage of gas imports for 12 days was due to the maintenance of gas transmission pipelines.
Tapping into the huge offshore and onshore oil and gas reserves to ensure energy security requires not only massive investment, but also cutting-edge technology, neither of which is available in Iran, an energy expert said.
“Not being able to attract foreign investment is a recipe for disaster and the only way to convince international giants to finance upstream and downstream initiatives in Iran is by developing friendly relations with the world,” Morteza Behrouzifar also told ILNA.
The implementation of development plans in hydrocarbon reserves needs an investment of at least $300 billion. Pinning hope on domestic banks and companies to fund mega projects is unrealistic, as most of them have long been struggling to survive, he added.
The energy expert noted that as long as sanctions remain in place and foreign investors are not given a reliable guarantee and do not feel economically safe, they will never risk losing their money.
Iran’s trade with Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s member states, excluding crude oil exports from the country, stood at 42.91 million tons worth $33.84 billion during the first 10 months of the current Iranian year (March 21-Jan. 20), registering a 4.9% and a 23.07% year-on-year rise in terms of weight and value respectively, latest data released by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration show.
China with 29.17 million tons (up 10.19%) worth $12.69 billion (down 39.5%) was Iran’s main trade partner among SCO member states during the period. It was followed by India with 5.91 million tons (down 9.07%) worth $2.4 billion (down 9.88%) and Russia with 3.11 million tons (down 20.23%) worth $1.19 billion (down 34.09%).
Iranian exports hit 34.72 million tons worth $16.58 billion during the period, registering a 3.42% and a 10.05% growth in weight and value YOY, respectively.
A total of 1,330 tons of honey worth $2.5 million were exported from Iran to 22 countries during the first 10 months of the current Iranian year (March 21, 2022-Jan. 20), according to the head of the Agriculture and Food Industries Commission of Iran Chamber of Cooperatives, Arsalan Qasemi.
The exports stood at 1,800 tons worth $5.6 million in the last Iranian year (March 2021-22), he added.
China, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Germany, the UK, Canada, Hong Kong, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Iraq and Lebanon are among the main destinations of Iranian honey.
“Communications”, one of 12 groups of goods and services surveyed by the Statistical Center of Iran for calculating the inflation rate, registered an average annualized inflation rate of 8.8% in the 10th month of the current Iranian year (Dec. 22, 2022-Jan. 20) — the lowest among the groups under review.
The month-on-month and year-on-year inflation rates of the group reached 2.7% and 8.8% respectively. The YOY inflation of the group was also the lowest among all the 12 categories surveyed.
The 12 groups of the basket of consumer goods and services surveyed by SCI include "food and beverages" with a coefficient of 26.64%, "tobacco" with 0.59%, "clothing and shoes" with 4.78%, “housing and utilities" with 35.5% (highest), "furniture, home appliances and their maintenance" with 3.93%, "health and treatment" with 7.14%, "transportation" with 9.41%, "communications" with 2.87%, "leisure and culture" with 1.65%, "education" with 1.86%, "hotels and restaurants" with 1.44% and "miscellaneous items and services" with 4.18%.
The Producer Price Index for industrial chicken farms in the four-quarter period ending Dec. 21, 2022, which marks the end of the third quarter of the current Iranian year, increased by 66.3% compared with the corresponding period of the year before, according to the Statistical Center of Iran.
A total of 1.9 million tons of goods worth $724 million were exported from Parvizkhan Border Terminal located in the western Kermanshah Province to Iraq during the first 10 months of the current Iranian year (March 21, 2022-Jan. 20), according to Qasem Matlabi, a local customs official.
The Purchasing Managers’ Index for the construction sector remains in contraction mode, the latest data released by the Iran Chamber of Cooperatives show.
The PMI settled at 42.3 in the 10th month of the current Iranian year (Dec. 22, 2022-Jan. 20), up from 40.95 in the preceding month (Nov. 22-Dec. 21), which indicates a 3.26% increase.
PMI is an indicator of the health of economic sectors and provides information about business conditions to decision-makers, analysts and purchasing managers.
Raw material inventory, employment conditions, new orders, supplier deliveries and export/production conditions are among the criteria surveyed, yielding a final score of between 1 and 100.
A total of 49.69 million tons of goods were loaded and unloaded at Bushehr Province’s six ports during the first 10 months of the current Iranian year (March 21, 2022-Jan. 20), registering a 17% rise compared with the similar period of last year, according to a local official.
Ali Bahreini, ambassador and permanent representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to United Nations and other international organizations in Geneva, Switzerland, presented the instruments of ratification for the Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155) and the Protocol of 2002 to the convention, 1981, on Feb. 7 to Director General of International Labor Organization Gilbert Houngbo.
The world has tested subsidization programs many times and countries continue to implement support policies in different ways.
These programs were launched in the years after the First World War and continue to this day. The policy of giving subsidies to households has been carried out in Iran for many years now. But instead of resolving public livelihood problems and reducing inequality and improving welfare, subsidization programs in Iran have benefited certain groups. This is while support policies in the world are designed to help low-income groups. These were stated by Ali Sadvandi, an economist, in an article for the Persian daily Donya-e-Eqtesad.
A translation of the text follows:
Tehran Stock Exchange's main index, TEDPIX, gained 1,556.53 points or 0.10% on Wednesday to end at 1,558,081.63. The TSE equal-weighted index climbed 0.23%.
About 7.68 billion shares worth 54.4 trillion rials ($134.1 million) changed hands for the day. Trading at TSE and over-the-counter Iran Fara Bourse starts on Saturday and ends Wednesday.
Goltash Company led the winning table with its shares up 6.96% to 5,840 rials per share. Iran Construction Investment Company was the big loser among all TSE-listed companies plunging 4.81% to 1,720 rials per share.
Banks paid an estimated 29,719 trillion rials ($69.1 billion) in loans in the first nine months of the current fiscal year (ends in March) – up 41.9% on the same period last year.
The Central Bank of Iran said on its website that individual borrowers accounted for 9,031.3 trillion rials ($21.6 billion) or 30.03% of the total and 20,760.3 trillion rials ($48.2b) went to businesses.
Loans to individuals increased by 48.2% year-on-year, and to companies was 39.3% higher.
The Majlis Economic Commission and the government are collaborating to prepare a comprehensive plan for regulating cryptocurrencies, Mohammad Reza Pourebrahimi, the head of the commission, said.
"The commission started working on the issue in the past. However, the former [Rouhani] administration preferred not to get involved," ISNA quoted him as saying.
Pourebrahimi said the commission had then prepared a draft outlining plans for regulating cryptocurrencies and cryptoassets. "The plan did not move forward largely due to the government's lack of interest."
The Majlis Joint Commission has approved the import of used vehicles, including passenger cars, tractors, trucks, vans, buses and minibuses, under 5-8 years in the next fiscal year (starting March 21, 2023).
The proposal, incorporated in the section on automotive development in Note 6 of the budget bill, was earlier approved by the Majlis Industries and Mines Commission.
This issue will be officially approved when the articles of the budget bill for the fiscal 2023-24 are presented in an open session of the parliament, Donyaye Khodro reported.
Some experts claim that the import of used vehicles can help regulate the market while others oppose this plan and believe that used cars are not economically viable, because the country of origin wants to export them for the same reason.
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