Construction Material Exports at $620 Million in Fiscal 2019-20

“Our exported products included wires and cables, tiles and ceramics, stone, light switches and sockets, china and ceramics, faucet, bathtub and shower, door and window, and pipe and profiles," Farzad Piltan was also quoted as saying by Fars News Agency.

Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkey, the UAE and Azerbaijan were the main destinations.

The official noted that only around $2 million of the total exports of these products were shipped to African countries, namely Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Nigeria.

He added that the main exporters to Africa’s lucrative construction materials market are China with $2.2 billion, Italy with $700 million, India with $400 million, France with $365 million and Turkey with $360 million per year.

“Iran’s meager export to Africa is due to high transportation costs, lack of regular and direct shipping lines, difficulties in establishing offices or participating in exhibitions in that region, high commercial risks in that market as well as the fact that the Iranian private sector does not know the demands of the African market while African businesspeople are also not familiar with the capabilities of Iranian producers,” Piltan said.

100% of Demand for Raw Materials Met Domestically

Iran’s building and construction industry supplies 100% of the raw materials it needs from the local market, according to Jafar Sarqeini, the former caretaker of the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade. 

“Iran's steel, cement, tile and ceramics industries even produce more than twice the country’s domestic demand. Of the $10 billion worth of exports by mining sector in the last [Iranian] year [March 2019-20], exports of construction materials accounted for $7 billion. Today Iran is one of the major steel exporters in the region and one of the main exporters of cement in the world.” 

The official made the statement at the opening ceremony of the 20th edition of International Exhibition of Building and Construction Industry and the ninth edition of International Exhibition of Elevator, Escalators, Elevating Conveyors, Spare Parts and Equipment, which opened concurrently at Tehran's International Fairgrounds on Sept. 10. 

World's 10th Biggest Steelmaker

Iranian steel mills produced more than 18.6 million tons of crude steel during the first eight months of 2020 (January to August), which indicates a 11.3% rise compared with the corresponding period of 2019, the latest report released by the World Steel Association shows.

The country's August output increased 14.6% year-on-year to hit 2.4 million tons, according to the Brussels-based international trade body for the iron and steel industry.

Iran’s world ranking remains unchanged compared to Worldsteel's previous monthly report: world’s 10th biggest crude steel producer.

The country is placed between Brazil (ninth) with 19.77 million tons of production and Vietnam (11th) with 15.39 million tons, the new report shows.

Iran’s crude steel output stood at 31.9 million tons in 2019, according to Worldsteel, up 30.1% YOY.

Seventh Biggest Cement Producer

More than 17.5 million tons of cement and clinker were exported from Iran last year (March 2019-20), registering a 32% growth compared with the previous year, according to the head of Cement Employers Association.

“Cement accounted for 6.7 million tons and clinker for 10.8 million tons of the total sum. Our main export destinations over the period were Iraq, Kuwait, the littoral states of Persian Gulf, China, Bangladesh, India and Central Asian countries,” Abdolreza Sheikhan was quoted as saying by Mizan Online.

“A total of 60.3 million tons of cement and 66 million tons of clinker were produced in Iran last year, showing a 9% and 6.9% rise compared with the year before.” 

According to Sheikhan, Iran is the world’s sixth biggest exporter of cement chain products.

“Iran's cement production capacity stands at 87.5 million tons per year,” IRNA quoted him as saying.

Iran aims to increase its cement production capacity to 100 million tons by 2021 and to 120 million tons 2025.

Iran was ranked the seventh biggest cement producer in the world in 2019, with a production of 60 million tons. The country was previously the world’s eighth biggest cement producer with 58 million tons, as Turkey was the seventh biggest producer with 72.5 million tons. 

However, as Turkey decreased its production in 2019, Iran stood at seventh place, Iranian Mines & Mining Industries Development & Renovation citing United States Geological Survey reported.

Stone, Gypsum, Sand and Gravel Exports at $1.3b 

According to Rouhollah Latifi, the spokesperson of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration, a total of 2.46 million tons of stones, gypsum, sand and gravel worth $1.3 billion were exported from Iran during the first five months of the current Iranian year (March 20-Aug. 21). 

According to Latifi, the exports included different types of lime, gypsum, magnesium oxide, silicon dioxide, marble chips, sandstone, pebble, flint, china stone, travertine, pumice and clay. 

China, Iraq, India, Armenia, Oman, Qatar, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Kuwait and Indonesia were among the main customers of Iran’s stone, gypsum,sand and gravel, he was quoted as saying by Fars News Agency.