The future dependence of decorative stone on the decisions of the Ministry of Industry
Secretary of Iranian Stone Association: We will file a complaint to the Court of Justice against the decision of the Economic Council to impose duties on the export of raw stone.
According to Iran Stone Exhibition, Ahmad Sharifi criticized the amount of duties on the export of decorative stones, saying it was illegal in Article Three of the Implementing Regulations of Article (Thirty-Seven) of the Barriers to Production Act It is forbidden to export low value-added raw materials that are domestic or inaccessible for processing. On the other hand, surplus ornamentation is produced on domestic consumption. There are also many mines that cannot be processed domestically, which will be shut down if exports are not made. For these reasons, the Economic Council's decision is 100 percent inconsistent with the law.
He said that only one-third of the ornamental stone mines are active, he said: "There are two thousand and hundreds of exploitation licenses in the ornamental stone sector in the country with an annual nominal capacity of about 30 million tons. Unfortunately, out of this number of licenses, only 1,000 units are active and their production is about ten million tons.
Sharifi blamed the lack of ornamental stone production capacity on the market, saying that the lack of demand has now led to a third of the mines operating and about fifty percent of them are closed.
The secretary of the Iranian Stone Association stated that there are six thousand 500 processing units in the country with a production capacity of about one hundred and eighty million square meters; Of this amount of processing, about twelve million square meters is exported and the rest consumed internally.
He said: processing units are operating at less than one-third of the capacity, which has led to increased prices for this product and loss of processing units.
Sharifi said that crude stone export is about one million tonnes and about nine million tonnes domestic consumption. That amounts to about $ 100 million in exports. About 600,000 tonnes of processed ore are exported, worth an estimated $ 50 million.
He added: About 60 percent of stone exports to Iraq are unfortunately very low in value and have a negative added value. That is to say, a ton of crushed stone is actually sold for $ 50, while the crude is $ 100. This problem is due to the failure to provide a mechanism for raising prices and achieving real prices.
The secretary of the Iranian Stone Association believes that the future of the ornamental stone industry will depend on the decisions of the Ministry of Experts.
* Ilna
