September 3rd, 2013 
Michael 
The Islamic Republic of Iran has produced more than 140,000 tons of aluminum ingots in the first five months of the current Iranian calendar year (started March 21, 2013). …read more
French carmakers poised to re-enter Iran
The French car industry is seeking to win back its once dominant position in the Iranian market following a nuclear agreement between Iran and the six world powers in Geneva last month. …read more The French car industry is seeking to win back its once dominant position in the Iranian market following a nuclear agreement […]
Caracas backs Iran OPEC chief candidacy
The Venezuelan ambassador to Tehran says his country supports Iran’s candidacy for the position of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) secretary-general. …read more The Venezuelan ambassador to Tehran says his country supports Iran’s candidacy for the position of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) secretary-general. …read more
Iran, India in talks over oil payments
Iran and India have begun talks on how to resume payments that New Delhi owes Tehran over crude oil imports from the Islamic Republic, a report says. …read more Iran and India have begun talks on how to resume payments that New Delhi owes Tehran over crude oil imports from the Islamic Republic, a report […]
‘Iran mulls Persian Gulf free trade zones’
The chief Advisor to the Iranian president says the Islamic Republic is considering a plan to turn all of its Persian Gulf islands into free trade zones. …read more The chief Advisor to the Iranian president says the Islamic Republic is considering a plan to turn all of its Persian Gulf islands into free trade […]
Iran to pursue unfreezing of assets
A senior Iranian banking official says the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) plans to form a task force to pursue the unfreezing of the Islamic Republic’s assets blocked abroad. …read more A senior Iranian banking official says the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) plans to form a task force to pursue the unfreezing of the […]
Iran aluminum output over 140k tons
Tehran Stock Exchange sets new record in trade volume
The Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE) has set a new record in trading volume, surpassing the 40,000 unit mark for the first time.
During the early trading of shares on Wednesday, the sixth trading day in the Iranian new year that began on March 20, the TSE registered its newest record when the trade volume soared to over 40,000 units.
The city’s stock market began the new year’s trading at 38,040 points.
The trading volume in the Tehran market had already passed the 39,000-point mark on the second day of trading in the new Iranian calendar.
According to reports, the record-setting trade volume was influenced by heavy trading of shares offered by MAPNA Industrial Group, Iran Telecommunications, National Development Investment Group, and the Bandar Abbas Oil Refinery.
Iran asked to increase petchem exports
The managing director of the National Petrochemical Company says the Islamic Republic of Iran’s neighboring countries have demanded an increase in the export of the country’s petrochemical products.
Abdolhossein Bayat made the remarks in an interview with the Oil Ministry’s official news agency, SHANA, on Sunday.
“Despite all challenges in the way of petrochemical products exports in 1391 (the current Iranian calendar year, started March 20, 2012), neighboring countries have demanded an increase in the export capacity of our country thanks to high quality and variety of the goods produced in petrochemical complexes of Iran,” Bayat stated.
He added that petrochemical products have had a 38-percent share in the non-oil exports of the country in the current (Iranian calendar) year.
He also expressed hope that petrochemical products’ exports can develop further in the following (Iranian calendar) year.
Iran has significantly expanded the range and volume of its petrochemical products over the past few years, and the National Iranian Petrochemical Company has become the second-largest producer and exporter of petrochemicals in the Middle East after Saudi Arabia.
The Islamic Republic exported a total of 18.2 million tons of petrochemical and polymer products, worth about USD 14.2 billion, to more than 60 countries in the previous Iranian calendar year (ended March 19, 2012).
Source: Press TV
Iran’s non-oil exports valued at $50bn in past year
The director of Iran’s Trade Development Organization (TDO) has estimated the total value of the country’s non-oil export of goods and services in the previous Iranian year (that just ended on March 20) at USD50 billion.
Hamid Safdel further added that imports into Iran for the first 11 months of the past year reached USD48 billion, which is expected to climb to USD55 billion for the entire year.
According to Safdel, the value of Iran’s non-oil export of goods –excluding services– for the first 11 months of the year 1391 was 71 million tons, valued at USD38 billion, and predicted that the amount for the entire year will reach USD43 billion.
He then emphasized that all annual objectives that were predicted in the fifth development plan have been realized.
The trade official further added that import of goods in the past year reflected a decline of USD 5-7billion, which mainly included semi-built goods.
Source: Press TV
Iran plans new petrochemical hub in Chabahar port
An Iranian deputy oil minister says the country plans to build a new petrochemical hub in the southeastern port city of Chabahar through USD 20 billion of investment.
“Only those companies will be given permit for establishing petrochemical plants which are able to complete their value chain,” Mohsen Khojasteh-Mehr stated on Tuesday.
He said the plan will be implemented in three phases with a total investment of USD 20 billion.
Iran is one of the world’s major petrochemical producers, Khojasteh-Mehr pointed out, putting the country’s petrochemical production at 246 million tons per day.
According to the official, out of 57 million tons of the country’s rated petrochemical production capacity, 12 million tons remains vacant, though only three million tons of it can be blamed on feedstock shortage.
Khojasteh-Mehr stated that the petrochemical industry has remarkably reduced Iran’s dependence on crude oil revenues.
Chabahar Port, in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, lies 72 kilometers West of Pakistan’s Gwadar Port, and is connected to the city of Zaranj in Afghanistan’s southwestern province of Nimruz.
Source: Press TV
Work on Pakistan section of IP gas pipeline to begin on Monday
TEHRAN – The construction of the Pakistan section of the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline will officially begin on March 11, Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi announced on Wednesday.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari will attend the inauguration ceremony for the construction operations, the Mehr News Agency quoted Qasemi as saying.
The pipeline construction work will be carried out by an Iranian company — Tadbir Energy Gostar — which has not been sanctioned by any foreign government. The first gas flow will be available to Pakistan by the end of December 2014, according to the Pakistani daily The News.
Pakistan has brushed off the mounting U.S. pressure to cancel its $7.5 billion gas pipeline project with Iran and has made it clear to the United States that it will complete the venture come what may, even at the cost of U.S. sanctions, because the project is an essential component necessary for the country to meet its energy requirements.
In 2010, the two countries reached an agreement, according to which Iran would supply Pakistan between 750 million cubic feet (21 million cubic meters) and one billion cubic feet per day of gas by mid-2015.
Iran has already completed a 900-kilometer section of the 56-inch diameter pipeline on its territory, and the remaining 200 kilometers up to the Pakistani border is expected to be completed in the next two years.
Source: Tehran Times
Iran petchem nominal capacity to reach 60mt: NPC chief
An Iranian deputy petroleum minister says the country’s nominal petrochemical production capacity is close to reaching 60 million tons (mt).
Abdolhossein Bayat said on Wednesday that the objective would be reached after several new petrochemical projects come on-stream before the current government bows out in August.
The official added that the country’s petrochemical output is planned to hit 100 mt by 2015.
“Today, petrochemical industry is an influential element in Iran’s economy and this industry has managed to win a significant share in the [country’s] non-oil exports,” added Bayat, who is also managing director of National Petrochemical Company (NPC).
Bayat stated that Iran is negotiating with some countries for exporting its new petrochemical products.
He gave an upbeat assessment of the future of Iran’s petrochemical industry, saying new petrochemical hubs in the southeastern port city of Chabahar, Lavan Island in the Persian Gulf, and Sarakhsh in northeastern Iran would bring about a major development in Iran’s petrochemical industry.
In February, Bayat had announced Iran’s plans to establish three new petrochemical hubs in the near future, saying the projects will turn Iran into the biggest petrochemicals producer in the Middle East.
Iran has significantly expanded the range and volume of its petrochemical products over the past few years, and the NPC has become the second largest producer and exporter of petrochemicals in the Middle East after Saudi Arabia.
Source: Tehran Times
Iran, Iraq, Syria sign telecommunication agreement
Iran, Iraq and Syria have signed a tripartite telecommunication agreement aimed at establishing an optical fiber network linking the three countries.
The agreement was concluded by the representatives of the Telecommunication Infrastructure Company of Iran (TIC), Iraq’s Al-Sard Group and Syria Telecom at a meeting hosted by TIC in the Iranian capital, Tehran, on Tuesday.
Based on the telecommunication deal, data and voice signals will be transmitted from Iran to Iraq and then to Syria and European countries.
“In line with its international macro policies, TIC seeks to establish telecommunication connections with all neighboring countries and the new opportunity that will be created by the [planned] optical fiber via Iraq will have mutual benefits for the three countries and will also be highly beneficial for the region,” said TIC Managing Director Mahmoud Khosravi.
The project will enable Syria to utilize TIC’s network via a secure and reliable route for communicating with other countries across the world.
Source: Tehran Times
Iran’s car exports tripled to $294m in 11 months
EHRAN – Iran exported 49,952 cars, valued at about $294 million, during the first eleven months of the current Iranian calendar year, which began on March 20, 2012, the Mehr News Agency reported.
During the same period in the previous year, 18,455 cars, worth $96 million, were exported.
Iraq, Ukraine and Azerbaijan were the main importers of Iranian cars.
Meanwhile, 38,399 cars, valued at $932 million were imported into Iran during the 11-month period. The UAE, South Korea, and Kuwait were the main sources of car exports.
On February 3, ISNA reported that the Iranian administration has decided to reduce car import charges by 5 percent in a bid to create a balance in prices of cars in the domestic market.
The car import charges will be decreased by 5 percent in the next Iranian calendar year, which begins on March 21.
Iran plans to manufacture at least three million cars by 2025 and export some one million sets, Iranian Industry, Mines, and Trade Minister Mehdi Ghazanfari said on June 16.
Source: Tehran Times
Iran to establish NGL plant on Persian Gulf island
TEHRAN - Iran will inaugurate a natural gas liquids (NGL) production plant on Kharg Island, which is located in the Persian Gulf, by the end of the next Iranian calendar year (March 2014).
The project is now 50 percent complete, ISNA quoted Iranian Offshore Oil Company official Reza Bayazi as saying on Sunday. The plant’s output is projected to be 600 million cubic feet per day, he added.
The project will cost €1.2 billion to complete, he noted.
Some of the output of the new plant will be produced from associated gas, also known as flare gas or associated petroleum gas.
National Iranian Offshore Oilfields Company Managing Director Mahmoud Zirakchianzadeh recently said that associated gas could benefit the country, but most of it is flared, causing massive losses for the nation.
Source: Tehran Times
Iran plans to issue high denomination banknotes
TEHRAN - The Central Bank of Iran plans to issue 200,000-rial and 500,000-rial banknotes, the Mehr News Agency quoted the central bank official Majid Saniei as saying.
Currently, 100,000-rial banknotes are the highest denomination currency in the country.
The society is in need of such high denomination banknotes, the official said.
The administration of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may face up to 171 trillion rials (about $13.8 billion) deficit for paying cash subsidies in line with the subsidy reform plan in the current Iranian calendar year which ends on March 20, according to media reports.
During the first half of the current year, the administration faced 47.701 trillion rials (about $3.8 billion) deficit. If the same situation continuous, its budget deficit will amount to 171 trillion rials.
Nearly 74.5 million Iranians receive cash subsidies.
The government implemented the first stage of the subsidy reform plan towards the end of 2010 in an attempt to wean the country off food and fuel subsidies. At the time, Ahmadinejad called it the “biggest economic plan of the past 50 years”.
It allows the government to gradually slash subsidies on fuel, electricity, and certain goods over the course of five years, with low-income families being compensated with direct cash handouts.
Source: Tehran Times
Iran set to increase gas exports to Turkey
Iran is expected to sign a new agreement with Turkey to increase the volume of natural gas exports to its northwestern neighbor by five million cubic meters (mcm) per day.
The agreement is expected to be signed on the sidelines of the ministerial meeting of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), scheduled to kick off in Tehran on Monday.
Following the agreement, Iran’s natural gas exports to Turkey will reach 30-35 mcm per day.
In December 2012, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said his country will continue buying natural gas from Iran despite financial sanctions imposed against the Islamic Republic by the West.
The United States, Israel and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program. Over the false allegation, Washington and the European Union have imposed unilateral illegal sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
Iran refutes the allegation, arguing that as a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, it is entitled to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
Iran’s natural gas is of crucial importance to Turkey, as it uses a significant portion of imported Iranian gas to generate electricity.
Iran, which owns the world’s second-largest natural gas reserves after Russia, is Turkey’s second-biggest supplier after Moscow.
In addition to exporting gas to Turkey, Armenia, and Pakistan, the Islamic Republic is currently negotiating gas exports to Iraq.
Turkey also imports oil from Iran.
Source: Press TV
Iran increases oil swap capacity in Caspian Sea region
The Islamic Republic of Iran has increased its oil swap capacity in the Caspian Sea region to 500,000 barrels per day (bpd).
According to a report on Sunday, Iran has increased the volume of its oil swap with the Caspian Sea littoral states, and currently has three short-term, mid-term and long-term plans high on its agenda in this regard.
The Islamic Republic plans to develop the coastal infrastructure at its northern port city of Neka, situated some 200 kilometers (124 miles) north of Tehran, and raise its oil swap capacity.
It has started the development of the offshore pool at Neka oil terminal to meet the needs of merchant shipping fleets and also raise the oil reception capacity of the site.
The development plan is projected to increase the oil swap captivity of the Neka terminal from the current volume of 200,000 to 500,000 bpd in the initial phase, and then to 1.5 and 2.5 million bpd in coming years as mid-term and long-term plans come on stream.
Iran imports oil from Central Asian countries to be refined at Tehran and Tabriz oil refineries and then delivers an equivalent amount of oil to potential buyers in the Persian Gulf.
Source: Press TV
Iran plans to issue $10b in bonds to finance oil and gas projects
TEHRAN - The Iranian Oil Ministry plans to issue $10 billion worth of bonds to finance oil and gas projects in the next Iranian calendar year, which begins on March 21.
The plan is in line with next year’s national budget bill, which was recently submitted to the Iranian parliament, the Fars News Agency reported.
On Wednesday, the administration of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad submitted the 7.3 quadrillion rial (about $595.4 billion) national budget bill for Iranian calendar year 1392.
The proposed national budget has increased by 22 percent compared to the previous year.
In July 2012, Oil Ministry official Mohsen Khojasteh-Mehr said the Central Bank of Iran had opened a $10 billion line of credit for a number of national oil projects in the upstream sector.
The national oil projects have a number of sources of finance, such as access to 18 percent of the assets of the National Development Fund and the funds acquired through the issuance of $10 billion in foreign currency bonds, the issuance of 15 trillion rials in other bonds, and the sale of $10 billion of shares and properties of the Oil Ministry, Khojasteh-Mehr told the Shana News Agency.
In April, Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi said that the global economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic would not hinder the development of the country’s oil industry.
The Oil Ministry is committed to accelerating the implementation of its development plans, financed through the financial system and through government bonds, he said.
Iran ranks fourth worldwide with 155 billion barrels of recoverable oil reserves, after Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, and Canada.
With 34 trillion cubic meters of natural gas reserves, Iran has the world’s second largest natural gas reserves after Russia.
Source: Tehran Times
Inflation rate rises 1.1% in Iran, hits 29.8%
TEHRAN - The Central Bank of Iran has announced that the inflation rate in the 12-month period ended the eleventh Iranian calendar month of Bahman (February 18) hit 29.8 percent.
The figure rose 1.1 percent compared to the 12-month period ended on January 19, according to the Fars News Agency.
The Central Bank of Iran has announced that the inflation rate in the current Iranian current calendar year 1391, which ends on March 20, will hit 31.5 percent, ISNA reported.
The inflation rate had been projected to hit 32 percent, but measures have been taken to curb the rate at 31.5 percent, ISNA quoted Central Bank governor Mahmoud Bajmani as saying.
In December 2012, IRNA quoted Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Shamseddin Hosseini as saying that the Iranian administration has special plans to curb a probable surge in inflation during the final months of the current Iranian calendar year, ending on March 20, 2013.
Source: Tehran Times
Iran pipeline work to begin March 11: Pakistan officials
ISLAMABAD (AFP) – A consortium will start work next week on a much delayed $7.5 billion gas pipeline from Pakistan to Iran despite American warnings of possible sanctions, Pakistani officials said.
The date was announced after Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari held talks in Tehran with Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who urged Islamabad to press ahead with the project.
“The groundbreaking is going to be performed on March 11 on the Pakistani side of border and we hope that the presidents of the two countries will be present on the occasion,” a senior Pakistani official told AFP, requesting anonymity.
He said the ceremony would mark the start of work by an Iranian-Pakistani consortium on the 780-kilometer (485-mile) pipeline earmarked for the Pakistani side of the border, which is said to cost some $1.5 billion.
A second Pakistani official also confirmed March 11 as the start date.
Although the pipeline on the Iranian side has almost been completed, Pakistan has run into repeated difficulties, both in financing the project and over a U.S. threat of possible sanctions.
Iran eventually agreed to finance a third of the costs of laying the pipeline through Pakistani territory to Nawabshah, north of Karachi, with the work to be carried out by an Iranian company.
Pakistani officials said in mid-December that Iran had promised a $500 million loan and that Islamabad would meet the rest of the cost.
“The government has assured us that they will arrange this money through different sources including international financial institutions,” a Pakistani official told AFP.
Source: Tehran Times
U.S. dollar sold at 24,537 rials at Iran’s Forex Center
TEHRAN - U.S. dollar was sold at 24,537 rials on Thursday at Iran’s Forex Center, compared with 24,527 rials on Wednesday, the Mehr News Agency reported.
Euro and pound were also sold at 32,259 rials and 37,228 rials, compared with 32,048 rials and 37,050 rials the day before.
Iran’s Forex Center was officially inaugurated on September 24.
The Central Bank of Iran has set the official exchange rate at 12,260 rials to the dollar. That rate is available to importers of certain goods that are deemed essential. Meanwhile, the exchange rate of the U.S. dollar in Iran’s free currency market is around 36,700 rials on Thursday.
Source: Tehran Times
Iran inaugurates biodiesel production plant
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TEHRAN - A biodiesel production plant was inaugurated on Thursday in Iran’s central province of Isfahan at a cost of 150 billion rials (about $12.2 million), IRNA reported.
The construction if the plant started six years ago. The produced biodiesel will pollute the air 83 percent less than other fuels.
Biodiesel refers to a vegetable oil- or animal fat-based diesel fuel. Biodiesel is meant to be used in standard diesel engines and is thus distinct from the vegetable and waste oils used to fuel converted diesel engines. Biodiesel can be used alone, or blended with petrodiesel. Biodiesel can also be used as a low carbon alternative to heating oil.
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Source: Tehran Times
$595b national budget bill submitted to Iranian parliament
TEHRAN – The administration of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad presented the national budget bill for Iranian calendar year 1392, which starts on March 21, to the Majlis on Wednesday.
The proposed national budget amounts to about 7.3 quadrillion rials (approximately $595 billion), showing a 22 percent rise year on year.
The bill has predicted a 40 percent drop in oil revenues compared to the current year’s projected figure.
It has forecast that oil revenues will hit 660 trillion rials (about $53.8 billion), 40 percent down year on year, according to the Fars News Agency.
The funding for running the government has been increased by 15.2 percent to 1.6 quadrillion rials (about $135 billion).
Reportedly, next year’s national budget has set the price of oil at $95 per barrel, based on the exchange rate of 12,260 rials, which has been fixed by the Central Bank of Iran.
The bill has also allocated 900 trillion rials (about $73.4 billion) for implementing the second phase of the Subsidy Reform Plan, a 125 percent rise compared to the budget which had been allocated for the first phase of the plan.
Source: Tehran Times
Iran’s cement output tops 64m tons in 11 months
TEHRAN – Iran produced over 64.1 million tons of cement in the first 11 months of the current Iranian calendar year, which began on March 20, 2012).
The figure was 5.6 percent higher compared to the same period in the previous year, IRNA reported on Wednesday.
In December 2012, Iranian Industry, Mines, and Trade Deputy Minister Vajiollah Jafari said by reaching the annual output capacity of 115 million tons, Iran will become world’s third largest cement producer in the coming years.
Iran’s cement output will reach 75 million tons by the end of current Iranian calendar year, ISNA reported.
Iran plans to increase its cement output up to 85 million tons by the end of the next Iranian Calendar year.
Iran plans to export 12 million tons of cement in the current calendar year.
Industry, Mines and Trade Minister Mehdi Ghazanfari said in August 2012 that the country’s cement production capacity will reach 110 million tons by 2015.
Source: Tehran Times
