According to the International Exhibition of Iranian Stone, according to the available statistics, there are more than ten thousand mines throughout our country and they have received activity and exploitation licenses, but for some reasons, including the recession in the Iranian construction sector, buying decorative stones. And a building like the previous years is not thriving, and dozens of mines in this area have remained stagnant, and the investment that has been made has remained unused. In the plan to revive and activate the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Trade, nearly one hundred and fifty mines have reached the stage of revival and activation last year.

In an interview with the head of the Iranian Association of Decorative Stones, the issues and problems of this industry have been studied and what happened to the revival of stagnant mines in the field of decorative stones. Iman Alaghband, who holds a bachelor's degree in mining and a master's degree in international marketing management, believes that Iran can export at least as much as $ 2 billion in Turkish exports of decorative and building stones.

In the last three years, the Ministry of Industry and Mines has raised the issue of reviving stagnant and inactive mines, but before that, decorative stone quarries have had their own problems. In previous years, thirteen million and three million tons of decorative stone were produced annually, of which ninety-eight percent was domestically consumed, that is, thirteen and one million tons were consumed domestically, and a small amount was exported at two hundred thousand tons. In recent years, we have usually exported less than $ 400 million worth of decorative stone. Why is it so important to emphasize that the decorative and building stone produced should be consumed domestically?

There is no emphasis on this, and the market determines that. Because our country is a developing country with a young population and it is expanding and developing and building. The brilliant construction market, which has dominated the country in recent years, has attracted about ninety-five to ninety-six percent of the decorative stone processing products from stone-cutting factories. This factor has been the most important factor in attracting most products in domestic projects. We have also had external factors that have been deterrent and have caused the export of processed stones not to increase significantly. We cannot say that our products are in The domestic market is not consumed, but at the same time, our factories are in trouble. The current economic downturn is palpable for everyone. Decorative stones can be exported when there is a desire to do so, but there is no desire to export, and the main factor has been the very booming market and domestic consumption.

The number of decorative stone mines in 1393 was two thousand two hundred and twenty-two units, and Mr. Bahraman, the head of the Mining House, recently said that two thousand and seventy units have operating licenses. Finally, is there a specific number of mines used in the field of decorative stone licenses?

A plan was proposed two years ago and has now entered the implementation phase. In this way, the Iran Stone Association and Imidro (Mines Development and Renovation Organization of the Ministry of Industry and Mines) are conducting an accurate survey. One of the major problems facing our industry is the lack of accurate and up-to-date statistics. To have.

According to the same statistics, 2,220 units of all decorative stone mines have had a number of stagnant or equipped mines. Do you confirm the existence of about a thousand inactive mines?

We do not have exact statistics on these mines, but they may be even higher. Of course, stagnant mines are not good news, but many of our mines are closed.

In recent years, the total domestic consumption of Iranian decorative stones has been about thirteen percent of the total global consumption of this type of stone. Given that alternatives to decorative and building stones have now been developed, do mining activists worry about this and ultimately reduce domestic consumption?

This concern has arisen in some of our colleagues, and at the macro level of management of the Ministry of Industry and Mines, this issue has not been taken into account, and with this situation, we are missing some opportunities. One thing that is certain is that alternative materials compete with decorative stones and have a market share. This situation started a few years ago and continues. Due to their price, quality and weight, these new materials and compounds will affect the stone industry and the consumption of decorative stones.

Domestically, decorative and building stones are not supplied with proper processing, and the processing and quality are weak compared to foreign products?

Basically, it's very difficult to enter global markets and revitalize our position, and our competitors are smart. Our association is working on this, and given the stagnation in the construction sector, we want to use the existing potential to increase stone exports.

Have you set a goal this year, assuming that the tolls will be 20% or not, what will be the export of stone from the current $ 300 to $ 400 million?

No. We have not set a goal in this way. We are in a very precarious situation, and things like the increase in the state's mining rights, the imposition of a 20 percent toll, and the huge cost of buying and repairing machinery have happened, and we are facing a worn-out fleet in the mines. We are in the 90th minute of this story, and if we do not reach this part of the mine sooner, we will have many problems. Our competitors are producing decorative stones and there is a lot of competition. Of course, we may not have that opportunity in the next ten years, and the same new materials that replace decorative stone in the construction industry are a threat. Therefore, we should not miss the opportunity to raise money now, because in the future, we may not have such an opportunity. We have factories with excellent processing quality, standard quality and we have collections that do not have proper processing. We have a lot of problems in the field of stone processing and the quality is very low. One of the reasons why our hard-working colleagues in the processing sector have not addressed this issue properly is due to the booming market that has existed inside the country. As a result, these stones were sold in good or medium quality and even bad quality, and there was no incentive to produce with quality, but with the recession in the construction sector, our colleagues have tried to take their place. Maintain in the market and enter the export markets. Of course, stone exports face the problem of sanctions, and in short, this industry has many challenges.

Mr. Sharifi, secretary of the Stone Association, said that about half of the 2,000 ornamental stone mines are active. Are the units that are not active due to the recession in the building or is their production no longer economical and its production is not justified?

Several factors play a role in this. The stagnation in the housing and construction sector is having an impact, and on the other hand, the cost of mining in construction stone mines has risen sharply due to sanctions and depreciation machinery. We are in the section. The conditions of mining machines are now such that we install the screws of one machine on another machine, and our machines are so worn out and expensive.
All the miners are desperate and are making their last efforts. This has made the mines, which require tailings and machinery, unjustifiable, given the market and the cost of the stone.

Equipped mines in recent years, have they been completed and do you know of any mining equipment that has started operating?

Some of them have entered the circuit and some are equipping and coming to the circuit. I find such mines that have entered orbit in the provinces of South Khorasan, Sistan and Baluchestan and West Azerbaijan. Despite the problems, when we hear such news, we hope that people in this class and industry will work. . Of course, the speed of activities has been slow and the costs have gone up a lot.

Have the same mines that have been equipped and started operating put their consumer market inside the country, or have they been thinking about exporting and equipping?

It is a combination of both, but I must admit that many of these units are hoping to export these days. Because inside the country, because of the recession in the construction industry, it does not force you to work.
However, the imposition of 20 percent tariffs on the export of decorative stones is a deterrent, and these effects affect the industry. While just when we need to take advantage of export opportunities, we burn those opportunities.

Iran's maximum annual export of decorative stones has been around $ 400 million. Were the newly equipped units able to export and did it happen that some of these new and equipped mines were deactivated?

Most of these mines have joined inactive mines. In other words, most of them could not or did not want to enter the field of export. As a result, they are mostly active in the domestic market.

However, in the plan to revive and activate small-scale mines, it has been started since the time of Mr. Shariatmadari's ministry in the Ministry of Industry and Mines. Minerals (affiliated with the Ministry of Industry and Mines) announced that as of March 24 last year, 1,450 mines have been activated and thirty-two mines have been activated. On what basis has this resumption and activation of mines taken so long?

First of all, the number of inactive mines was high and the units had to be identified. Once these stagnant units were identified, only a number of them had to be activated due to budget constraints. It was not the case that the budget and facilities were available to activate all stagnant mines. In this activation, the activation of which should be logical and should be a priority, given the budget constraints, market conditions and local conditions of these mines. This should be a long process and should be discussed. It took a long time to identify these units and choose between them.

Statistics by Mr. Ismaili, the new Deputy Minister of Mines Affairs of the Ministry of Industry and Mines, announced this year that out of 10,400 mines in the country, 5,600 are active. In the plan to rehabilitate inactive mines, quotas Fifteen units were allocated for the rehabilitation and activation of stagnant mines in the field of decorative stone production. Was it possible to revive a large number of decorative stone mines?

The problem we have is that in the Ministry of Industry and Mines, the field of oppressed building stones is located, and the main focus of this ministry is on metal mines and high-value mines such as copper, gold and iron. From this approach, it is somewhat understandable, but with the volume of job creation that mines have and can have building stones, due to the location of these mines and with the currency that they can have for the country, decorative stone mines It has a better look and requires more attention. In previous years, we had a building stone policy council at the Ministry of Industry and Mines, which Unfortunately, Dr. Sarghini (Deputy Minister of Mines) did not continue these meetings after several meetings. Such a move is one of the signs that the Ministry of Industry and Mines does not pay enough attention to the decorative stone mines. One of the problems facing the country is unemployment and employment. Another problem that we cannot escape and our country is involved in is the problem of drought, which also contributes to unemployment. In such a situation, mines and stone quarries are one of the potentials due to their location in remote areas. It is very important to attract labor.

In your opinion, there were no conditions for some of the inactive stone mines to be revived and activated last year, and is it possible to activate them this year?

The priority of government officials has been metal mines, and no stagnant mines have been restored. Of course, the process of mining building stones is underway, and I am sure that this will happen. Both Imidro and Dr. Ismaili, the new deputy for mining affairs at the Ministry of Industry and Mines, are following up on this issue. We have had and are looking at this field with energy and positivity. We hope that the results of the changes in the ministry will be tangible by the end of this year.

Mr. Ismaili has said that the production of decorative stone mines is in excess of domestic consumption, and that the 20% tax on its export duties is a barrier to currency appreciation. Do you think that with the new Deputy Minister of Industry and Mines, it can affect the prosperity of decorative stone mines and the activation of stagnant units?

We have done expert work, and our expectation is that this ministry will do expert work as well. Basically, the mines of decorative stones have a surplus production and the stone processing factories do not do this processing due to their recession. We have resources and stones whose consumption in the country is limited and can be exported. The third thing is that we have one of the largest known reserves of building stones in the world. We have four billion tons of well-known and definite reserves so far. In fact, this figure, which is extracted and consumed domestically, is not enough and needs to be reconsidered. In the face of the sanctions we are facing, decorative stone mines can be profitable for our country. We have Turkey, whose export of processed and unprocessed building stones is worth $ 2 billion annually.
In the current situation, our share of decorative stone exports to China is declining. The main reason for this situation is the self-sanctions that our decision-makers and managers put on the export market by imposing 20% ​​duties.

In previous years, between $ 300 million and $ 400 million worth of decorative stone exports occurred. If the 20% tariffs on stone exports were not applied, would you be able to export, and what is the plan of the Iranian Stone Association to seriously increase exports?

With these effects, we are losing our competitiveness to our competitors in global markets. The second point is that we also have stones that, by imposing these duties, have no economic justification for export at all, that is, their cost and sales are not competitive with the products of other countries, and these stones have been eliminated from the competition. The fact is that our exports are declining in weight and value, and at least eighty percent of that is due to 20 percent export duties.

* Iranian Stone Association