According to the International Stone Exhibition of Iran, currently the amount of stone consumption in the country is 60 million square meters per year, and considering 10 million square meters of export stone, we produce a total of 70 million square meters of processed stone per year.

Two-thirds of the capacity of decorative stone production and processing units has been shut down due to lack of exports, and officials need to work hard to revitalize this market and activate exports. Ahmad Sharifi, secretary of the Iranian Stone Association, believes that at present we have more than enough stone processing facilities in the country. Therefore, by strengthening exports, existing capacities can be produced.

Annual production of 70 million square meters of stone

Ahmad Sharifi about the consumption of decorative building stones in the country said: The consumption of stone in 1391 and 1392 due to the increase in building permits of municipalities reached 130 million square meters per year, but gradually with the recession in the country and reducing building permits this amount of Consumption decreased. At present, the annual consumption in the country is 60 million square meters, and considering 10 million square meters of export stone, we produce a total of 70 million square meters of processed stone per year.

He continued: "This amount of production is while the domestic capacity for stone processing is 200 million square meters per year, and according to the amount of production, we can say that we are currently operating at one-third of our capacity."

Exports are the way to reduce production

The secretary of the Iranian Stone Association about the solution to reduce production in the country added: Iran is one of the top countries in terms of consumption of decorative building stones. This is while most countries are below our average consumption figure. We are currently able to process stone in the country more than we need. Therefore, by strengthening exports, existing capacities can be produced.

 Sharifi added: "It is better to establish export management companies and export holdings with the cooperation of the Stone Association, the government, the Islamic Consultative Assembly and the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Trade, because by doing these measures, a capacity of at least 50 million square meters of stone can be planned and processed." By exporting it, it imported one billion dollars of foreign currency into the country.

The secretary of the Iranian Stone Association said about the hardware facilities available in stone processing units: "Stone processing units in the country, two-thirds of which are active, have good hardware facilities and can be added to some production units, slabs or quality tiles by adding a series of newer hardware facilities." Produced suitable for export.

Problems of processing units

He further pointed to the problems of processing units and added: "Currently, processing units are facing a number of problems such as buying block stone in cash, increasing freight rates and increasing consumables, which can be solved by providing issues for export development." Also, for this purpose, many meetings have been held with the elders of this class, and by gathering views, we seek to provide the ground for export development.

Statistics of processing units

Regarding the amount of decorative stone processing units in the country, Sharifi said: "In carrying out a project that was defined and approved in cooperation with the Iranian Stone Association and Imidro, we seek to obtain accurate statistics of stone processing units, but according to estimates, about 6,500 stone processing units." There are large numbers in the country, of which 30 to 40% of them have stopped production and shut down.

Cancellation of block stone export duties

The secretary of the Iranian Stone Association said about the duties on block or raw stone: At the time of the previous Ministry of Industry, Mines and Trade, Mr. Sarghini believed that a 20% fee should be set for the export of block or raw and semi-processed stone, while implementing this decision It was created for the mining sector and the experts of the Policy Council were also against this action. It was approved in the Economic Council. Since then, we have been seeking the removal of these tolls and a lot of correspondence has been made, while the Deputy Minister of Mines of the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Trade and the new Chairman of the Executive Board of Imidro also agree to the removal of these tolls. Administrative steps and correspondence Remove this restriction.

Comprehensive design of decorative stones

Sharifi said about the lack of a comprehensive long-term plan in the field of industry: "One of our problems is not holding the meetings of the Decorative Stones Policy Council, which has been postponed for about two years and despite correspondence we have not been able to hold these meetings." Industry, mining and trade must revive the policy council. The Iranian Stone Association has provided the preparations for the comprehensive plan of the country's decorative stones, and at present, obtaining statistics from the mineral processing units is the introduction of this comprehensive plan. The approval of this plan outlines Iran's position in the global market in the field of decorative building stones for the next 6 years. Therefore, we hope that this plan will be approved as soon as possible by forming a policy council and conducting expert work.

Long steps in the path of localization

He said about the localization of processing machines: "Fortunately, in this sector, with the efforts of local experts, we have been able to move in the direction of localization, while our production equipment is also of good quality." Although it can not be said with certainty that our equipment is similar to Italian equipment, we do not have a problem with the supply of necessary hardware if the import route of these devices is completely blocked. At present, high quality saws, sub-machines, top cutters and floor kiln systems are produced in the country. In the last two years, we have been able to localize the slab line.

In the end, he considered investing in decorative stones as the most important challenge for investors to enter this sector and emphasized: no matter how much we have production but there is no possibility of export, the products will remain only in warehouses and cause other investors to dare to enter this industry. Do not have. Therefore, every effort should be made to boost the exports of this sector.

We need serious action

A member of the National Stone Association of the country called for serious measures to solve the problems of sale and export of the stone industry and said: "We are in a situation where we must work to solve political problems in general.

Reza Ahmadi called for the formation of a think tank to solve the problems of the stone industry so that we can finally see the flourishing of this industry.

We also need to look for target markets and export in the true sense of the word to reach distant markets. Ahmadi, stating that there are about 6,000 stone processing units in the country and 2,000 in Isfahan province, said: "Our active mines are unique and there are no similar ones in the world." We also have good machinists who play a leading role in the world but are not under the umbrella of protection. The industry has a lot of work to do in terms of processing, business and mechanical engineering, and if universities are mobilized, there will be less concern.

He pointed out that in some industrial and production units we see less use of nominal capacity and stagnation in work, he specified: One of the requirements in the industry is to adopt a mechanism to achieve capital and technology transfer. To emerge and emerge in export markets, we must witness the modernization of the fleet of mining machinery and equipment.

Ahmadi, stating that our stone industry is very strong and rich, said: "This industry needs to improve technology and strengthen the foundations of economic growth, in this regard, we need the support of the government and the central bank with foreign exchange and banking policies." Also, the target export markets are inevitable with the creation of permanent exhibitions and stone products, and the exhibition companies and the Chamber of Commerce should help the activists in this field to make the preparations for the export markets.

Concluding remarks

Activists in this field refer to several cases in explaining the solutions to remove export restrictions in this field. Determining export incentives (eliminating export duties), supplying equipment, providing facilities and marketing marketing are among the key issues in this area that are pursued in the High Council of Mines.

Exemption from government fees for small ornamental mines for the development of these mines, as a support program, may include such mines that the High Council of Mines may issue this permit. Also, Iran Minerals Production Company, as a leader in the development of this industry, can take the necessary measures by providing a database consisting of the number of inactive mines of decorative stones and consulting the provinces to provide a solution for the prosperity of such mines.