TEHRAN — Hushang Ahmadpur, the head of the board of directors of Anguran Mine Co. said on Saturday that nearly 10 to 20 percent of the machineries used in the mineral sector have been renovated.

He explained that unfortunately most of the machineries currently used in the mineral sector have been dilapidated, however, the low-level profit of the mining activities discourages the activists in this sector to purchase the new equipment, he added.

The government will play a crucial role in resolving this problem by supporting the mining sector, he noted, citing as example purchase of 250 mine machineries within the past four years by the government. This is among the significant measures to improve the situation of equipment of this sector, he added.

Credits worth Rls.4200b allocated to processing industries

TEHRAN — The Fourth Five-Year Development Plan (2005-2010) has set aside credits worth Rls.4200 billion for processing industries for the next Iranian year (to be started March 21, 2006), Abbas-Ali Paknejad, the director general of the processing industries in the Agricultural Jihad Ministry said on Saturday.

The credit has been allocated to create the new capacities in the sector, he said, adding, it will consist of the property ownership credits, bank facilities, and technical assistances.

Further, Paknejad named some of the problems lingering on processing industries as insufficient studies conducted on how to develop these industries, insufficient laws to support their development, and lack of good planning to expand such industries.

WB to give $250m loan to Tehran water & sewage projects

TEHRAN — The World Bank agreed to grant a $250m loan for implementation of the water and wastewater projects in Tehran, Sattar Mahmudi, the managing director of Tehran Water and Wastewater Company told the Mehr News Agency.

To implement the first phase of water and sewage projects in the capital, the World Bank will offer facilities as much as $145m out of which $80m has been so far allocated, he explained.

He put the whole cost required for carrying out these projects at Rls.80 trillion.

Further in his remarks, the managing director said that six modules of Tehran water treatment plant will come on stream by early Iranian year 1386 (to be started March 21, 2007). Four of the modules are built at the credits allocated by the World Bank, and the rest will be constructed by using the domestic credits, he added.

Iran’s fish production to hit 760,000 tons

TEHRAN – Iran’s fish production will reach 760,000 tons by the end of the Fourth Development Plan (2005-10), claimed head of the country’s Fisheries Organization on Saturday.

Nezami added that all fishing vessels in Chabahar will soon be equipped with refrigerating equipments, noting that they should make fisheries development in Chabahar a priority regarding the fact that this southeastern port is one of the main fishing centers in the country.

Tabas coal reserves put at 1.2b tons

TABAS, Yazd – The total amount of coal reserves in this central Iranian city is estimated to be about 1.2 billion tons.

Five coal mines have been discovered in Tabas to date, of which two are being extracted by the private sector. Mining officials in Tabas believe that by extracting the total capacity of these mines, Iran’s coal imports will be cut by 750,000 tons thus helping the government save 600 million dollars. Currently, about 2,000 miners work in coal mines of Tabas. Some 150 million dollars have been invested in equipping the mines in the past four years. Tabas is located 370 kilometers northeast of Yazd.

Export of foodstuffs to attain $384m next year

TEHRAN – Iran’s foodstuff export is expected to reach 384 million dollars in the next Iranian year (starts March 20, 2006).

In the first half of the current Iranian year (March 21-September 22), Iran exported some $142.8 million of foodstuffs, which showed 9% decrease compared to the corresponding period last year. Iran’s foodstuffs are mostly exported to Germany, Afghanistan, Kuwait, UK, Italy, Canada, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Australia, Azerbaijan, Romania, Russia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the UAE. This year’s foodstuff export is estimated to hit $295 million.

Iran doubles exports to Afghanistan

TEHRAN – In the past nine months of the current Iranian year (March 21-December 21), Iran exported some 490,830 tons of non-oil commodities, valued at $300.52m, to Afghanistan.

This showed 54% increase in comparison with the same period last year. Veterinary medicine, herbs, detergents, and clothing were the main exported commodities. Iran also exported polymer sheets, tar, and candies to Afghanistan. Non-oil exports to Afghanistan comprised 4.3 percent of the total volume of Iran’s non-oil exports in the said period.

Iran plans to use wind power to generate electricity

TEHRAN – The wind speed reaches 40 meters per hour on the hillsides of Manjil where there is a high wind potential that makes it a favorable place for installing wind turbines.

Initial studies show that Iran can produce 16,000 megawatts of electricity through using wind power (turbines). In northern Europe, especially in Germany and Denmark, the offshore wind potential is higher and, therefore, these countries use a large number of such turbines to produce electricity.