Reserves of 4 billion tons of decorative stones in the country
Secretary General of the Iranian Stone Association: The amount of exploratory reserves of decorative stone and the country's facade is estimated at 4 billion tons and it is predicted that there will be the same amount of undiscovered reserves in the country.
According to the International Iranian Stone Exhibition, Ahmad Sharifi stated: Activation of a decorative stone unit and decorative facade for the annual production of 20,000 tons, requires an investment of 7 to 10 billion tomans.
The Secretary General of the Iranian Stone Association continued: "Today, the value of a loader, which is one of the machines needed in the mines, reaches 5 billion tomans, and the mine, with worn-out and inefficient machines, cannot cause a jump in production."
He added that sanctions and the corona crisis have affected all items. In the field of decorative stones and facades, the imposition of duties on the export of coupe in the first half of this year has had its impact on the production and export process. So far, the official statistics of exports for 6 months of this year in the field of decorative stone and facade have not been provided to this association by the customs.
He specified: It was previously announced that in 1397, 581 thousand tons of processed stones worth 144 million dollars and one million tons of quarry stones worth 161 million dollars were sent to export destinations.
The available statistics show that Iran has a capacity of 30 million tons in the construction stones sector, and in 1397, with the production of 13.5 million tons, our country had maintained its position among the top 5 countries. Iran's capacity in the field of processed stone is estimated at 180 million square meters and production is estimated at 80 to 85 million square meters.
Sharifi added: "According to the natural trend, 11 million square meters of processed stone have been exported in previous years, but this year's conditions are assessed differently from previous years."
He said: "Statistics show that 2,100 decorative and facade stone mines in the country have exploitation licenses, and today 40 to 45% of these mines have been closed due to various reasons or have much less capacity."
Sharifi added: "Today, the amount of exploratory reserves of decorative stone and the country's facade is estimated at 4 billion tons, and it is predicted that there will be the same amount of undiscovered reserves in the country."
He also explained about the consumption of decorative stone and facade in the domestic market: Last year, the number of building permits issued by municipalities in the country was less than 60 million square meters; If one square meter of stone is considered for this area, we do not see much difference with previous statistics.
6500 stone cutting and processing factories
The Secretary General of the Iranian Stone Association stated: According to statistics, there are 6,500 stone cutting and processing factories in the country, which cover 40 to 50 factories producing quality production in the domestic market and have good conditions.
He said: "The reality is that factories with standard stone production that are equal to the standards of World Production Day are limited, and the machines of many factories need to be modernized and improved."
Rock mining survey plan
Sharifi announced the census of stone mining units in cooperation with the Organization for Development and Renovation of Mines and Mineral Industries of Iran (Imidro) and added: Iran Minerals Production Company (Impasco) affiliated to the organization will allocate 9.7 billion rials for this purpose. Data, which is actually one-third of the required budget.
He added: "Accurate statistics are a prerequisite for any planning and it is expected that the necessary planning will be done by collecting reliable statistics in this regard."
Export holdings need today
The Secretary General of the Iranian Stone Association believes that the need of the country's stone sector today for an active presence in global markets is to form export holdings. In fact, by defining branding for our country's index products, it is possible to prevent disruption by competitors in target markets.
He reminded: "Until a few years ago, Iran was among the exporters, but self-made obstacles caused us to leave our share to competitors."
Imposition of stone export duties, leading brakes
Regarding the imposition of duties on stone exports, which was re-enacted in the second half of last year, Sharifi said: "The unsuccessful experience of the tenth government was re-enforced last year, and 20% of the export duties were considered for cut stone (unprocessed)." , But in the review stated that this action is unprofessional; However, this trend has not been abolished.
He pointed out that the imposition of tariffs by governments is to support domestic consumption, but the domestic market is saturated with 35 to 40 percent of the country's stone production; Thus, the imposition of export duties as a brake is still in front of this sector.
Surveys in 1397 show that 69 countries in the world applied for processed stone in Iran. Iraq and the UAE accounted for 65 percent of the sector's exports, while China accounted for more than 80 percent of the coupe's exports.
