IRAN: Iran’s cement, clinker exports surpass 6m tons

Iran exported over 6.8 million tons of cement and clinker during the first six months of the current Iranian calendar year, which began on March 20, the IRNA News Agency reported on Saturday.

The exports grew by 26.4 percent compared to the same period last year.

Exports of cement and clinker amounted to 1.21 million tons in the sixth calendar month of Shahrivar, which ended on September 21.

Iran plans to produce 75 million tons of cement by the end of the current year, the deputy industry minister, Vajihollah Jafari told the ISNA News Agency on September 14.

Iran produced over 66.4 million tons of cement in the past calendar year, showing 8 percent rise compared to the year before.

Industry, Mine and Trade Minister Mehdi Ghazanfari has said that the country's cement production capacity will reach 110 million tons by 2015.

He added that Iran holds two percent of the world’s total mineral reserves.

Some 5,000 mines are being exploited in the country, he said, adding that around 340 million tons of minerals were extracted in the past year.

The deputy head of Iran's Geology and Mineral Exploration Organization Behrouz Borna has said that the country ranks first in the Middle East for possessing the region's largest mineral reserves,.