Director of Iran’s National Petrochemical Company (NPC)’s Projects says with several new projects going operational, the country’s petrochemical production capacity is going to increase significantly in the current Iranian calendar year (started on March 20).

“In the year of “Surge in Production”, the petrochemical industry is trying to benefit from the most of the domestic capabilities and with new petrochemical projects being inaugurated, the production capacity in this industry will increase significantly,” IRNA quoted Ali-Mohammad Bosaqzadeh as saying.

He said the petrochemical industry is now the center and pillar of the country’s economic development and is in close collaboration with all industrial sectors, adding that injecting resources into the productive sectors and prohibiting the waste of national resources can lead to the second and third leaps in the petrochemical industry.

Noting that the balanced development of the petrochemical industry is of particular interest among NPC strategies for the current year, he said: “In this regard, the development of downstream petrochemical industries is going to prevent the sale of raw materials and will result in the production of products with higher added value.”

He further noted that most of the underway projects in this industry are currently using domestic equipment, licenses and technological knowledge of Iranian experts.

Considering the undeniable significance of the petrochemical industry in Iran’s resilient economy in the sanctions era, the Iranian Oil Ministry and the country’s National Petrochemical Company have been taking major steps to facilitate further development of this industry in recent years.

Back in September 2019, Bosaqzadeh noted that Iran‘s annual petrochemical output, which is currently at nearly 70 million tons, is planned to reach more than 100 million tons by the Iranian calendar year of 1400 (ends on March 2022) and to 130 million tons or nearly doubled) by 1404 (ends on March 2026).

Also in August 2019, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh had announced that the country’s annual petrochemical output is expected to reach more than 100 million tons by 2021, despite U.S. sanctions.

A subsidiary company of Iran’s Barkat Ventures is manufacturing oxygen ‎concentrators and ventilators in an effort to help those who are infected ‎with the coronavirus in the country, said its CEO. ‎

Iran’s Barkat Ventures is a knowledge-based institute affiliated with the ‎headquarters for the Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order (EIKO). ‎Established as EIKO’s executive arm in the development of the country’s ‎knowledge-based economy, Barkat Ventures’ mission is the creation and ‎expansion of the ecosystem and infrastructure required for the ‎development of knowledge and knowledge-based activities in the country, ‎according to barkatventures.com.‎

To these ends, it has placed on its agenda making the maximum use of the ‎capabilities of domestic scientists and experts and expanding cooperation ‎with the country’s institutes and organizations involved in the fields of ‎science, technology and the knowledge-based economy. ‎

Commenting on his company’s activities in an exclusive interview with ‎Iran Daily, Peyman Bakhshandeh-Nejad added, “In cooperation with a ‎number of researchers of a new technology-based firm, we started our ‎activities at Sharif [University’s] Advanced Technologies Incubator in 2014. ‎Two years later, the company produced its first oxygen concentrator as ‎part of a project funded by Barkat Ventures.”‎

He said in the beginning, the company was highly dependent on imports ‎for manufacturing the device, purchasing almost 80 percent of the spare ‎parts from other countries, noting that, however, in 2018 EIKO supported ‎the company, enabling it to produce oxygen concentrators without having ‎to rely on imports.‎

Since late 2019, Bakhshandeh-Nejad added, domestic production of all ‎spare parts required for manufacturing the device has begun. ‎

He said, previously, the company’s production line manufactured five ‎oxygen concentrators per day, noting that following the coronavirus ‎outbreak in Iran, the number of the produced devices has increased to 30 ‎per day. ‎

In the aftermath of the coronavirus outbreak, EIKO placed on its agenda ‎increased investments in the domestic production of ventilators and other ‎medical equipment required for combatting the virus. This was done in ‎view of the rise in domestic demand for such products and due to the ‎unjust US sanctions on the Iran impeding imports of such ‎devices. ‎

In May 2018, President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the Joint ‎‎Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), ‎signed between Iran and the P5+1 ‎in July ‎‎2015, and reimposed Washington’s unilateral sanctions on ‎Tehran. ‎The sanctions ‎have hindered, among other things, the delivery of ‎international ‎humanitarian ‎aid, medicine and medical equipment to Iran, ‎particularly, now that the ‎country is fighting against the ‎coronavirus. ‎

Bakhshandeh-Nejad added the price of his company’s oxygen concentrators ‎are far lower than their foreign counterparts, saying his firm has also made ‎significant progress in terms of providing after-sales service since it cut ‎dependence on imports. ‎

In addition to his company, he said, two other domestic firms are also ‎manufacturing the device, noting that one of them has launched a Chinese ‎assembly line for production of oxygen concentrators.‎

The company’s CEO put domestic demand for oxygen concentrators at ‎‎2,000 per month, stressing that the current level of production meets the ‎country’s demand for the device.‎

Bakhshandeh-Nejad said that since 2018, his company has begun ‎manufacturing a type of ventilator known as BiPAP – standing for bi-level ‎positive airway pressure. ‎

‎“The machine was selected in 2018 as the most unique medical equipment ‎produced in Iran.”‎

He said earlier that his company manufactured only up to three ventilators ‎per day, adding that since the coronavirus outbreak, its daily production ‎stands at 10 machines. ‎

‎“We have delivered 250 previously-produced ventilators to the Health ‎Ministry since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak in the country.” ‎

Bakhshandeh-Nejad added his company has recently finished making a ‎ventilator exclusive to coronavirus patients known as average volume-‎assured pressure support (AVAPS). ‎

He noted that mass production of the newly-built machine will begin in a ‎few days, saying the company is expected to manufacture 20 AVAPS ‎ventilators per day. ‎

‎“The Health Ministry has announced that it currently needs 1,500 AVAPS ‎ventilators.”‎

The coronavirus, which causes a respiratory illness, emerged in the central ‎‎Chinese city of Wuhan in ‎Hubei Province late last year and is currently ‎affecting a ‎large number of countries and territories across ‎the globe. It has ‎infected and killed ‎people in a large number of countries. ‎

Three major Iranian carmakers, namely Iran Khodro Company (IKCO), SAIPA Group and Pars Khodro, manufactured 863,263 vehicles during the past Iranian calendar year (ended on March 19), IRNA reported citing the data released by Codal website.

According to the data, during the previous year, IKCO manufactured 393,812 vehicles, of which 35,953 were produced in the last Iranian calendar month of Esfand (February 20-March 19).

Production by SAIPA stood at 363,379, of which 23,696 vehicles were manufactured during the last month.

Pars Khodro manufactured 106,072 cars during the past year. Production in Esfand reached 9,300 vehicles.

Iran has been following a program for supporting domestic manufacturing of auto parts since due to the U.S. sanctions the country’s automakers have been facing some problems in supplying their needed parts and equipment.

Industry, Mining and Trade Minister Reza Rahmani has said that the policy of domestic manufacturing of auto parts should be seriously followed up and in this due capable manufacturers should be supported.

In January, Iranian Auto Parts Makers Association’s Secretary Maziar Beyglou announced that Iran has achieved 80 percent self-sufficiency in the manufacturing of auto parts.

The official expressed hope that self-reliance in this sector reaches 90 percent through domestic production of required raw materials.

Domestic parts manufacturers are able to play a key role in creating a boom in the country’s manufacturing and employment sectors, in addition to playing their leading role as the auto industry’s intermediates, Beyglou said.

Mentioning the industry ministry’s strategies for promoting domestic production, the official said: “Following the current policies, we will see the production of a number of new vehicles from domestic automakers in the coming years.”

Iran’s Vice President for Economic Affairs Mohammad Nahavandian said many EU states back Iran‘s $5b loan bid from the International Monetary Fund, adding that more serious efforts have been made for releasing country’s foreign exchange reserves in other countries.

Speaking in a live TV program, Nahavandian elaborated on the government’s relief package to help the poor families, small businesses and the private sector suffering from the economic consequences of coronavirus.

He referred to tourism and transportation as two sectors which have been damaged seriously after the outbreak of coronavirus, saying the businesses in tourism sector can see boom in summer.

He noted that the Government has requested one billion euro from National Development Fund of Iran to spend in the context of the relief package.

Stressing the significant position of Iran in IMF and Iranian membership in IMF’s board of directors, Nahavandian said that Iran has written official letter to IMF and it would be Iran’s legal right to enjoy the IMF emergency facility to deal with humanitarian tragedy in Iran.

IMF has earmarked special credit to help thwart the threat posed to international community by coronavirus pandemic and major states back Iranian $5 billion loan bid from IMF emergency facility, but, the US has violated the most primary moral and humanitarian principles, he said.

Some members of the IMF board of directors have taken positive stance toward Iran and some European States have supported Iran, he said, adding that Iran has considerable reserves in various countries but they have not yet been available due to the US sanctions.

President Hassan Rouhani said Wed. that the number of coronavirus cases in Iran is dropping, adding that his government has earmarked $10bn for businesses that have sustained loss due to the pandemic.

The Iranian president made the remarks at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

Here are some excerpts from his address at the meeting:

The government and the National Task Force for Fighting Coronavirus have made very good decisions since the beginning, the first meeting I chaired these days dates back to February 25, when we held the first National Task Force for Fighting Coronavirus meeting and decided on the Social Distancing program on that meeting.

Many tourist and entertainment centers were closed. Schools and universities were closed and the authorities’ invitation was well received. Today we saw the Minister of Roads and Urban Development announce that people’s travel by train decreased by 94 percent, buses by 75 percent, and airplane by 70 percent, and overall travel declined substantially in the first days of Nowruz.

We had an 80-percent reduction in Nowruz travel

On average, we had an 80-percent reduction in Nowruz travel in the first days of spring. In most provinces, passing the peak of the disease is also related to the first days of spring.

Although it was a very difficult task for all of us, these decisions were made for the health and well-being of the people, and when we saw that we had to be stricter, we made a decision on March 25 to assign the social-security committee to review the matter.

The same day we made the necessary decisions and announced to the public, we started the second phase of the Social Distancing program, which was stricter on the people but at the same time the people cooperated and we had a 30% reduction in travel.

Different countries have adopted different approaches to this issue. Of course, we used the experience of all countries, but we never limited ourselves to their approach. From the very early days that the virus began, some have been proposing to implement the Chinese model of quarantine.

I need to explain to people what Chinese quarantine means. The Chinese quarantine meant that all shops were shut down and all cars stopped moving and all doors closed, and no one had the right to leave the house and 24 hours of food was thrown into the house. This was a Chinese quarantine model in Wuhan. No one in the world liked this model and no one implemented it.

What our experts were looking for from the outset was a program designed for Iran and the Ministry of Health responsible for it, we implemented different programs step by step at different stages.

We took the pessimistic approaches from the first days

With the help of doctors, nurses, medical staff who had been working since day one and made sacrifices, and saved our people, we took the pessimistic approaches from the first days and mobilized all facilities of the Armed Forces and called on them to bring 4,000 hospital beds. In total, we have 6,800 ICU beds, 4,000 of which are currently occupied, and the rest are empty.

These days, our production sector has done a great job of meeting the needs of both the hospital and the people. At this very cabinet meeting, the minister announced that the production of disinfectants has doubled in the past few days, with the private sector also adding to it.

Despite sanctions, hardships, and problems, we set aside about $10 billion to remove barriers to businesses that were in trouble. Part of that will be in loans, part in grants and part in packages paid to families and people in need.

The last thing I want to emphasize is the Americans’ malignancy. They imposed sanctions on us in these conditions for whatever reason. Their sanctions were wrong, cruel, incorrect and illegal. But still in this particular situation, which themselves know that coronavirus is not specific to one country and the world is almost interconnected, if 10 countries fight against coronavirus but one doesn’t, it will be spread twice as much and to twice as many countries. It is a global business.

It was the best historic opportunity for Americans to return from their wrong path and once again tell their nation that they are not against the Iranian people. They have always acted against the Iranian nation, but today their animosity towards the Iranian nation is more obvious.

According to statistics released by Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO), major Iranian steelmakers exported 675,000 tons of steel in the first month of 2020.

They also exported 5.88 million tons of finished and semi-finished steel in the first 10 months of the current Iranian year, to January 20, a 25-percent increase year-on-year, reported Press TV.

The figures did not include exports by Iran’s small private sector mills which like other Iranian producers send the bulk of their products to Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

Iranian steel mills are monitoring the global market for any gap from falling Chinese exports in the wake of a coronavirus epidemic.

China is the world’s largest steel exporter, but overseas orders for Chinese steel are reportedly declining. According to S&P Global Platts, Turkey, Iran and Russia are in a race to fill the gap in the market.

Iran’s industrial metals, specifically steel, are the latest target in the Trump administration’s maximum pressure campaign, but officials say the sector is unfazed and keeps growing.

In December, 2019, the US government launched the latest salvo in the campaign as it warned against exports of steel-making materials to Iran.

The US Department of State cautioned that those involved in transfers or exports to Iran of graphite electrodes and needle coke, which are essential materials for Iran’s steel industry, were at risk of sanctions regardless of their nationality or location.

However, Iran’s Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade Reza Rahmani put the damper on Washington’s haughty grandstanding, saying Iranian producers had obtained the technology to make graphite electrodes.

Iran is a leading producer of steel in the world, with officials saying exports continue despite the US sanctions.

The country plans to raise steel output to 55 million tons a year by 2025, of which 20 to 25 million tons would be earmarked for exports.

Deputy Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade Jafar Serqini has said Iran currently has 35 million tons of steel production capacity. Iran’s steel exports will exceed 11 million tons this Iranian year.

The Chairman of the Iran-Iraq Chamber of Commerce Yahya Al-e Es’haq said that Iran enjoys a high capacity to export $31 billion worth of products to the neighboring countries of Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

He said on Tuesday that export-oriented perspectives should be taken into consideration for promoting exports while boosting the quality of products is a prerequisite for spurring exports in the country, reported Mehr News Agency.

Iran’s 15 neighboring countries are home to about 500 million people, he said, adding, “These countries provide between $200 and $250 billion worth of export capacity for Iran.”

If barriers of trade and business activities were removed, Iran would be able to export $50 million worth of products to these countries, Al-e Es’haq noted.

He put the volume of products exported from Iran to neighboring Iraq over the past year at $13 billion, while about $9 billion worth of products were exported to Iraq in the first nine months of the current year (March 21 to Dec. 22, 2019).

Iran enjoys a high potential to export up to $20 billion, $6 billion and $5 billion worth of products to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, respectively, he stressed.

The head of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Customs Administration (IRICA) said in January that despite the United States’ unilateral sanctions against the Iranian economy, the value of Iran’s foreign trade exceeded $72 billion during the first 10 months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21, 2019-January 20, 2020).

In an address to reporters on Sunday, Mehdi Mir-Ashrafi added that of this figure, $35.5 billion pertained to Iran’s exports and $36 billion to the country’s imports.

He noted that the value of Iran’s overseas sales in this period indicated a three-percent decline compared to the same period last year, saying the figure does not include the country’s exports of electricity and techno-engineering services.

The weight of the country’s exports in this time span, however, indicated a 20-percent growth year-on-year, IRICA head added.

In addition, Mir-Ashrafi said, Iran’s imports in the 10-month period to January 20 witnessed an eight-percent rise weight-wise, compared to the country’s purchases in the same time period last year, adding they did not indicate any year-on-year change in terms of value.

He said of Iran’s total imports in this period, 19 million tons pertained to the purchase of basic goods.

“In addition, fetching $15.8 billion in revenue, the export of petrochemicals from Iran accounted for 44 percent of the country’s total exports in this period.”

The Iranian government has issued over 1,000 licenses for cryptocurrency mining in the country where there is potential for a crypto industry worth $8.5 billion, a report says.

Still, Iran’s stringent regulations on digital mining have forced many operators to move to more crypto friendly countries, Amir-Hossein Saeedi Naeeni, a member of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Guild Organization’s blockchain commission, said.

Digital mining, due to its rapid global expansion, generated quite a lot of interest among Iran’s IT operators who bought and deployed bitcoin extraction gear in the past two years.

But the enthusiasm was sapped by the government’s introduction of regulatory measures, Saeedi claimed.

“The laws announced by government institutions for crypto mining are very strict in comparison to other industries in the country, causing many miners to stop operating or migrate to the regional countries for investment,” he said.

Saeedi said license tariffs and electricity costs are such that make crypto mining less profitable in Iran, adding they have to be revised and made more transparent along with the regulatory measures.

He touched on the “special” situation of the country which is under the most restrictive American sanctions ever.

“The digital mining industry, beside bringing currency into the country, can facilitate trade where traders can use cryptocurrencies to import goods and bypass payment problems resulting from the banking sanctions,” he added.

Last August, the Iranian government enacted legislation that officially recognized cryptocurrency mining as an industry. The law requires miners to pay an export premium on electricity and prohibits them from mining during peak electricity-usage hours.

Other than that, cryptocurrency trading remains illegal in Iran, meaning the newly-minted coins need to be exported and yields repatriated, making them subject to taxation.

The decision to regulate digital mining came in response to illegal miners who took advantage of the country’s cheap and subsidized energy to set up farms across Iran.
Last summer, officials blamed a surge in activities related to mining of digital currencies like bitcoin for up to seven percent increase in the country’s monthly electricity consumption.

Ministry of energy officials said at the time that the country’s power grid had become unstable as a result of increased mining of cryptocurrencies.

Nevertheless, media reports said last year that Iranian government officials were considering developing a domestic digital currency to counter US sanctions.

Alireza Daliri of the Directorate for Scientific and Technological Affairs of the Presidential Office said a number of domestic knowledge-based companies were working over the project in cooperation with the Central Bank of Iran (CBI).

The head of the company contracted by the CBI to design and develop a national digital currency said then a blockchain and cryptocurrency research lab had been set up in Iran.

Blockchain is a digital ledger or database where transactions in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are recorded.

According to Iranian media reports, a state-backed national cryptocurrency backed by the local fiat unit, the rial, has already been developed but it has yet to be approved for use by the central bank.

Iran’s currency was targeted by the first round of US sanctions imposed in May 2018 after President Donald Trump withdrew from a landmark 2015 nuclear deal.

Under US pressures, the global banking network SWIFT has dropped Iran from its platform, making international financial settlements with the country almost impossible.

Blockchain and other digital ledgers holding cryptocurrency records process transactions without being controlled by any person or entity.

The US government has reportedly warned digital marketplaces that buy and sell bitcoin and companies that sell computers used to process bitcoin transactions to avoid providing services to Iranians.

Iran has launched a pilot project for extraction of rare earth after obtaining the technology for deep-level mining, the head of Iran’s largest holding in metals sector known as IMIDRO says.

The achievement will create significant added value for Iran, Khodadad Gharibpour said at the inauguration of the landmark project on Tuesday.

Every year, Iran imports 180 tonnes of rare earth elements which are used in a wide range of consumer products such as catalysts in cars and oil refineries, televisions, superconductors and fiber optics.

Gharibpour was thankful to Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade’s support for technology and research, saying Iran was able to obtain the know-how for extraction of these elements which require deep-level mining and are costly to process.

“The price of each kilo of these elements is between $5 and $60, the production of which can bring in a lot of hard currency,” he said.

Deputy head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Pejman Rahimian said the launch of the pilot plan for extraction of rare earth elements was a “big event”.

The Islamic Republic, he said, has accommodated “the best facilities, exploration equipment and investment” which will be provided to those active in the field.

“Rare earth elements are of particular importance and they are also important in the nuclear industry,” he said.

Iran, Rahimian said, had found a rare earth deposit in Saghand which is already known for its uranium mine in the central province of Yazd.

“If the processing plant is set up in this mine, good resources will be provided to the country,” he said.

Strategic use

Rare earth elements are a group of mostly strategic metals which appear in low concentrations in the ground. They have lately emerged as one of the fronts in an escalating trade war between China and the United States.

“During the recent US trade war with China, one of the places where China threatened America with is the embargo on the export of rare earth elements,” Rahimian said.

The metals are used in a broad range of consumer products, from iPhones, advanced ceramics, computers, DVD players, wind turbines, televisions, lighting and glass polishing to electric car motors.

Some rare earth minerals are essential in military equipment such as jet engines, missile guidance systems, missile defense systems, satellites, as well as in lasers.

Companies such as Raytheon, Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems all make sophisticated missiles that use rare earths metals in their guidance systems, and sensors.

Iran has already been trying its hand in the production of titanium, joining an elite club of countries which produce the strategic metal used in a range of high-tech manufacturing from military aircraft to artificial limbs.
Iran to become strategic metal producer

Mining in depths of 3,000 meters

Iran is tapping its mines and metals deposits like never before as it feels the pressure of the American sanctions that have hampered its access to normal oil revenues.

That comes as the United States has specifically targeted Iran’s trade and production of metals with a series of bans since May 2018.

Gharibpour said Iran currently has in place deep-level mining on its agenda. IMIDRO subsidiary Iran Minerals Production and Supply Company (IMPASCO) is now exploring minerals in depths of up to 3,000 meters in central Iran, he said.

“The methodology for deep-level exploration is being developed in the country,” said the official who also cited treatment of large mineral tailings as another key focus of Iran’s mining operations.

The country possesses 7% of the world’s total mineral reserves worth about $700 billion but officials say this figure could rise to $1.4 trillion with new discoveries.

After the lifting of sanctions in 2016, officials unveiled plans for $29 billion of mining investment for a number of projects ranging from steel to aluminum, copper, gold, rare earth elements and coal.

Several multi-billion mining projects with the participation of Italian, French and Chinese companies were in the pipeline. Italy’s Danieli had signed a joint venture and agreed orders worth about 5.7 billion euros during President Hassan Rouhani’s tour of Europe in January 2016.

However, unilateral US sanctions upended many of them as European companies turned their back on their governments which had pledged to safeguard trade connections with Iran.

Officials say while the sanctions have slowed the ambitious plans, they have not taken the wind out of Iran’s sails in mining.

The country’s precious metals sector has emerged as the key frontline in the battle, with the Trump administration firing the latest shot early this month.

Washington imposed new sanctions on the sector, targeting the construction, manufacturing, textiles, mining, aluminum, copper, iron and steel industries, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said.

A senior official dismissed them out of hand, however, saying Iran was on course to export 10 million tonnes of steel in the year to March 21, 2020.

The country is a leading producer of steel in the world with 35 million tonnes of production capacity. It plans to raise this figure to 55 million tonnes a year by 2025, of which 20 to 25 million tonnes would be earmarked for export.

China is planning to invest $280 billion in Iran’s oil and gas industry, according to Petroleum Economist magazine.

The energy affairs magazine quoted a senior source who was linked to the Iranian Oil Ministry, as stating that this enormous investment represents a key point in a new agreement, worth $400, inked between the two countries. This was confirmed during Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif’s visit to China in late August, to present a roadmap for the strategic comprehensive partnership agreement, which concluded in 2016.

China’s investment in Iranian oil and gas industry has been put at the focal attention amid trade war between China and US and tight competition of these two countries concurrent with the US sanctions imposed on Iran.

Accordingly, this investment will be made as a solution for bypassing and circumventing US sanctions by Chinese companies.