Economy

Official Stresses strategic role of Chabahr Port in exports (IRNA – 28 May 2017)

Chabahar Port, as a logistic, oceanic and important highway of east corridor development, has a crucial role in exporting petrochemical products and steel, Director General of Sistan and Baluchestan Ports and Maritime Behrooz Aqaee said.

“Chabahar has the best position in the region to link the regional countries and can lead to prosperity of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Aqaee said.

‘Chabahar, due to its strategic position, can have a main role to reducing the cost of fueling the ships,’ said Aqaee while pointing to Chabahar’s priority in bunkering ships.

 

Iran ready to help Bolivia with water management (IRNA – 28 May 2017)

 Iranian ambassador to Bolivia said in a meeting with Bolivian Minister of Development Planning Mariana Prado Noya on Friday that Tehran is ready to help Bolivia with its water management.

Ambassador Reza Shafiee Tabatabee referred to the very good political relations between Iran and Bolivia and said that Tehran is ready to participate in implementation of strategic and developmental plans of Bolivia.

Shafiee said that technology transfer is an important issue in a country’s progress and Iran is ready to do it even in advanced fields including nanotechnology. The Bolivian Minister of Development Planning referred to technological nature of the contracts between Iran and Bolivia and expressed her ministry’s readiness to participate effectively in the joint commission to be

 

Tehran, Yerevan confer on boosting agro ties (Tehran Times – 28 May 2017)

 In a meeting between Iranian Agriculture Minister Mahmoud Hojjati and Armenian Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan in Yerevan, the two sides discussed expansion of increasing partnership in trading agricultural products, Tasnim news agency reported on Saturday.

Referring to the signed agricultural MOU between the two countries, the Armenian prime minister suggested that a joint workforce should be formed on the way to improve mutual trade.
He also suggested that Iran can take advantage of Armenia’s membership in Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) to export its products to Europe.

Meat Industry Beefs Up Domestic, Overseas Role (Financial Tribune – 28 May 2017)

As meat products have a special place in the basket of food products consumed by Iranian households, the domestic industry has been working hard to keep pace with demand.

So much so that the processed meat industry has been thriving fast enough to the point where it is expected to increase its share in non-oil exports in the next decade. In a pamphlet recently published on Iran’s food industry, the Persian newspaper Donya-e-Eqtesad presented a promising image of Iran’s meat industry with growth prospects that can pave the way for self-sufficiency, job creation and sustainable development.

Currently, Iran has 150 meat production units with an aggregate capital of over 12 trillion rials ($320.59 million). As Majid Aflaki, secretary of Processed Meat Industries Association, explains that a top priority for Iran over the years has been to fully meet domestic demand for meat, which has materialized.

Last Iranian year (March 2016-17), according to Aflaki, not only local producers met the entire 500,000-ton domestic demand, but they also exported 4,000 tons of meat products during the period.

 

Oil & Gas

Total to finalize South Pars deal by summer (IRNA – 28 May 2017)

Total is going to finalize its contract on South Pars 11 gas field development with Iran before this summer, said the Chief Executive Officer of the French oil giant.

The US relief of sanctions has paved the way for signing of the finalized contract with Iran, added Patrick Pouyanne. Total had declared that the final decision on agreement with Iran depends on the extension of Iran’s sanctions relief by the US government.

Pouyanne also confirmed that he had talked with Iran’s Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh on the sidelines of the 172th session of Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) held on Thursday. The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) signed the new model agreement-in-principle for South Pars oil field 11 with a consortium composed of France’s Total, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and Iran’s Petropars last November.

Iran plans for 25% increase in non-oil exports (Tehran Times – 28 May 2017)

 Iranian Industry, Mining and Trade Minister Mohammadreza Nematzadeh announced that the country plans to increase its annual non-oil exports by 25 percent by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2018), IRNA reported on Saturday.

While putting emphasis on the significance of training in the field of exports, the minister said that besides submitting statistics on their output, the production units should also pay special attention to submitting their exports statistics.

Based on the data released by Iran’s Customs Administration in late March, the country’s trade balance was reported positive for the second consecutive year. Iran’s value of exports during the Iranian calendar year of 1395 (ended on March 20) was reported to be $43.93 billion while the figure for imports stood at $43.684; the value of exports was $246 million higher than that of imports.

Gas condensate, liquefied natural gas (LNG) followed by low-density oils, associated petroleum gas (APG) and hydrocarbon gas liquids and finally liquefied propane were among top exported commodities from Iran. The country’s trade balance for the Iranian calendar year of 1394 (March 2015-March 2016) was also $924 million positive.