Diversification of iron ore export market will check int'l pressures

Tehran, Dec 9, IRNA – Secretary General of Iron Ore Producers and Exporters Association of Iran Seyed Alireza Siasi-Rad believes that diversification of iron ore export market under declining price of this mineral substance will reduce international pressures. Speaking to IRNA, the official said limiting ourselves to export market of China in the face of international crises will not be an optional solution, adding that taking the required decision under the status quo is essential. He said supply of macro consignments of iron ore will promote the bargaining power of Iranian exporters and today the proposal is that IROPEX (Iron Ore Producers and Exporters Association of Iran) becomes involved with the Chinese tradesmen as the official sale representative of this mineral substance. He further remarked that the integrated export of iron ore export consignments will play a significant role in reducing transportation costs and underlined the need for the formation of a consortium in this regard. As for the problem of selling iron ore to steel units he said it is expected that domestic steel companies undertake the responsibility of taking measures for the purchase of iron ore at a balanced price in order to solve the problem. According to Siasi-Rad, investment on the cycle of value of steel products and processing is among points of attention in the association and through preparation of proper grounds mine exploitation can be guided towards excavation and iron ore pelletizing. He added that Iran’s iron ore which is exported to target markets has mainly an alloy less than 45% and is, in fact, a surplus of domestic consumption. He pointed to the export of 24 million tons of aggregate iron ore in the past year and said this year policies adopted by the government and drop in price of global markets caused a cut in export to 8.5 million tons in the first six months of the current year. He said it is expected that by the end of the year (March 20) a maximum of 65 to 70 percent of last year's exports will be realized. The discovered iron ore reserves in Iran have been put at 5.1 billion tons of which 2.8 billion tons are definite and the remaining indefinite. The Iranian private sector last year exported about 90% of its total iron ore output and the public sector exported half of the extracted mineral substance./end