TEHRAN – In the first four months of the current Iranian year (March 21-July 22), over 400 million dollars of technical and engineering services was exported from Iran.

“This is fairly higher than our projections,” said an official from the country’s Cooperatives Chamber. Tehrani put last year’s export of technical and engineering services at 1.5 billion dollars. He announced that an international cooperatives trade fair will be held in Tehran in the next few months.

Renewable energies to account for 1% of Iran’s power generation

TEHRAN – Renewable energies would soon be utilized for power generation in Iran, a power industry official claimed Sunday, adding this would account for one percent (500 megawatts) of the country’s total power output in the next four years.

“Thus, we will make use of wind, solar, biomass, and geothermal energies as well as sea tides in order to compensate for the shortage of natural resources,” he uttered. He pointed to the twenty-two 660KW wind turbines installed near Manjil Dam and said that new turbines would soon be set up in Binalud, North Khorasan.

China, UAE major exporter, re-exporter of low quality products to Iran

TEHRAN – China and the United Arab Emirates are, respectively, the major exporter and re-exporter of poor quality goods to Iran, Institute of Standards and Industrial Research of Iran (ISIRI) reported.

Of all commodities imported in the fourth month of the current Iranian year (Tir, falling on June 22-July 22), 73 items, with a total value of $1.55 million, were sorted as poor quality products. These were imported from China (71.3%), Europe (11%), the UAE (4%), and the U.S. (1.4%), while the producer(s) of four percent of the total volume was unknown.

Astara exports over 140,000 tons of goods since March 21

RASHT, Gilan Prov. – Over 140,000 tons of goods were exported from the northern port city of Astara in the first four months of the current Iranian year (started March 21, 2006).

The exported volume was worth $70.13 million, up 22% compared to the corresponding period last year. Agricultural products (40,189 tons) accounted for the lion’s share of exports, followed by minerals, building materials, industrial commodities, cement and gypsum, petrochemicals, and electrical equipments.

6th Tehran Intl. Construction Fair to kick off Wednesday

TEHRAN – The sixth edition of the Tehran International Construction Fair (Tehran Confair) will kick off on Wednesday August 9 in the capital’s Permanent International Fairgrounds.

The 4-day exhibition, which is to host 750 Iranian companies and 130 companies from South Korea, Austria, Greece, Italy, Belgium, France, Turkey, the UAE, and the UK, will cover an area of 40,000 square meters.

Development plans to boost Bandar Abbas Refinery’s output

BANDAR ABBAS, Hormozgan Prov. – The output of the Bandar Abbas Refinery is projected to increase from 232,000 barrels per day to 320,000 bpd upon completion of five development plans currently underway at the site.

Meanwhile, daily gasoline production at the refinery will hit 12.8 million liters. The projects include the development of the port so as to increase its stevedoring capacity and the repair of the road that carries cargos from the port docks to the refinery.