Economic news headlines in major Tehran dailies on Monday: -- ABRAR-E EQTESADI "Iran's Steel Imports Up 119 Percent in Six Months" Secretary of the Association of Steel Producers said on Saturday that Iran had imported over three million tons of steel to the country over a period of six months starting March 21, stressing that this indicated a growth of about 119 percent compared to a similar period last year. -- AFARINESH "Iran to Increase Plane Purchases From Russia" Transport Minister Ahmad Khorram has said that Iran is currently testing the quality of Russian-made planes, particularly the Tupolev-204 planes, stressing that if the results of the tests prove satisfactory, the Islamic Republic will increase its purchase of planes from Russia. -- AFTAB-E YAZD "Iran's Non-oil Exports From March Reach Dlrs 3bn" Iran's non-oil exports rose to 3.387 billion dollars in the first seven months of the current Iranian year (started March 21), indicating a growth of 22 percent compared to the same period last year. The exports rose to 8.245 million tons in terms of weight and dlrs 3.39 billion in terms of value, showing an increase of 4.4 percent and 19.7 percent respectively over the same period. -- ETTELA’AT “Iran's Non-Oil Exports from March at Dlrs 8b” Mashhad, Nov 3, IRNA -- The volume of Iran's exports of non-oil commodities and services will reach eight billion dollars by next March, said the head of Iran's Export Development Center Mojtaba Khosrowtaj here Sunday. Khosrowtaj said Iran's exports have approached 3.4 billion dollars from the beginning of the current Iranian year (March 21), adding that this indicated a growth of 22 percent compared to the same period the previous year. -- HAMBASTEGI "Imam Khomeini Airport to Come on Stream February 11, 2004" Director of the Development Project of Imam Khomeini Airport Naser Qanbari has said that the airport will be inaugurated on February 11, 2004 concurrent with the 25th victory anniversary of the Islamic Revolution. -- HAMSHAHRI "Oil Studies of Statoil in Iran's Southern Areas Rejected" The experts of the National Iranian Company of Southern Oil-Rich Areas have rejected surveys of the Norwegian Statoil Oil Company over several southern oil fields, including Bibi-Hakimeh, Ahwaz Asmari, and Maroun reservoir. -- IRAN "407,000 Cars Produced Over 7 Months" Iran's production of cars over a period of seven months starting March surpassed 407,000 while keeping the last month growth of 50 percent compared to last year. The production of passenger cars over the period stood at 360,000 cars indicating a growth of 49 percent compared to last year. -- IRAN DAILY "Wheat Imports Down By 4.8m Tons" Deputy Agriculture Jihad Minister Mohammad-Reza Eskandari has said that Iran has managed to cut wheat imports by 4.8 million tons in the current crop year. Eskandari has also said that while the demand for wheat in the current year is expected to reach 10.8 million tons, Iran had to import only 659,000 tons. -- IRAN NEWS "`Foruzan Oil Field' Plan Kicks Off in 3 Months" The executive phases of the plan on increasing the production volume of the `Foruzan Oil Field' will start in three months as the engineering operations are over. -- KAYHAN “Iran’s Production of Rice to Hit Record High” Delavar Rahimpour, the director of Corns Department of the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad, said on Monday that Iran’s rice production is expected to reach as high as 3.2 million tons by the end of the current Iranian calendar year of 1382 (ending March 19, 2004), stressing that this will be unprecedented in Iran’s history of rice production. -- KAYHAN INTERNATIONAL "Jahangiri visits 19th World Mining Expo 2003 in Delhi" Is'haq Jahangiri, the Iranian Minister for Industries and Mines, and Ja'far Sarqini, his deputy, as well as leading Iranian parliamentarians visited the 19th World Mining Expo 2003 at Pragati Maidan on Sunday. -- MARDOMSALARI "Iran to Transfer Kazakhstan Crude to Tehran Refinery in 2 Months" Deputy Oil Minister for Caspian Oil and Gas Affairs Hamdollah Mohammad-Nejad has said that Iran will finish final stages of a project to transfer crude oil from Kazakhstan to Tehran Refinery by train within the next two months.