TEHRAN – The fifth edition of Iran’s international exhibition of plastic and relevant industries (IranPlast 2006) will be held from November 7-11 in the Tehran Permanent Intl. Fairground.

This year’s exhibition is expected to be a competition ground for Iranian and foreign polymer manufacturers. As in the previous editions of IranPlast, this year’s fair will display products in four sections: raw materials, machinery and processing equipments, finished and semi-finished products, and technical and engineering services. The National Petrochemical Company aims to get more SMEs (small and medium enterprises) involved in the country’s major petrochemical projects, including Marun and Laleh. Therefore, IranPlast 2006 should be taken as a good opportunity by these industries to prove their capabilities.

Ten Iranian firms registered to form cellphone JVs

TEHRAN – So far, 10 Iranian industrial companies have sent their requests to the Ministry of Industries and Mines to form joint ventures with foreign mobile phone producers.

“These companies are currently negotiating with their possible foreign partners,” an official from the ministry told IRNA on Saturday. He said that the mobile phone market in Iran has reached stability and the prices are projected to decrease even further. “We don’t want to create a cellphone monopoly in the country,” Shaterzadeh claimed, adding that, eventually, people will choose what to buy themselves.

Tabriz to host auto fair early Oct.

TABRIZ, East Azarbaijan Prov. – Tabriz Intl. Fairgrounds will host the 10th Intl. Car Expo from October 2 to 6.

Some 440 Iranian and foreign companies, including carmakers from Germany, Austria, France, the UAE, and Belgium, have to date registered for the exhibition. European companies will showcase their cars, car parts, and safety equipments in a total area of 9,000 square meters. Tabriz-based automotive industries account for 60 percent of the total car parts manufacturing in Iran.

$600m needed for building 4 sugar cane-based pulp & paper mills

TEHRAN – If allocated, 600 million dollars, equal to the money spent on four-year import of paper, will be invested in construction of four pulp & paper plants that would use sugar cane as the main raw material.

This will be part of a major Sugar Cane Development Plan. The new plants will be parts of Farabi, Amir Kabir, Salman Farsi, and Mirza Kuchak Khan agro-industrial companies. These new plants will annually produce a total of 350,000 tons of paper from bagasse.

Iran to bolster trade ties with Cuba

TEHRAN – The Iranian ambassador to Havana Ahmad Edrisian met with the Cuban Minister of Light Industries on Saturday to discuss matters of mutual interest.

During the meeting, José Hernández Bernárdez stated he would do anything for broader cooperation with Iran. The Ministry of Light Industries of Cuba is in charge of supplying a variety of products from textile and leather products to cosmetics and toiletries and from detergents to industrial commodities.

Iran Khodro to form JV with the Chinese

TEHRAN – The Iranian giant carmaker Iran Khodro is seeking to from a joint venture with a Chinese company to produce B-Class cars here.

“We are looking for a reliable Chinese partner,” an IKCO official told ISNA on Saturday, “As soon as we reach an agreement with a Chinese car maker, we will start to jointly manufacture B-Class cars in Iran and China.” The new car will be sold at 60 million rials (nearly $6,500), Marzban added.