TEHRAN- Iran produced 1.224 million tons of coal concentrate in the first nine months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-December 20, 2020), according to the data released by the Industry, Mining and Trade Ministry.

The ministry’s data show that the production of coal concentrate has fallen 1.5 percent in the nine-month period of this year from that of the previous year.

Iran has produced 1.242 million tons of the product in the first nine months of the past year.

As previously announced by the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO), a total of 1,585,531 tons of crude coal was extracted in the past Iranian calendar year 1398 (ended on March 19, 2020).

Iran extracted 1,749,599 tons of coal during the Iranian calendar year 1397 (ended on March 20, 2019). And the coal concentrate production in the mentioned year stood at 732,050 tons.

Due to the special conditions of coal mines in Iran, these mines are subject to tax exemption and miners who need mining machinery can use the facility and tax exemption in this sector to import their necessary machinery.

The country's average annual coal concentrate production is about 1.5 million tons, while the country's current demand has reached two million tons.

Currently, Iran’s coal sector provides employment for 17,000 people, however, the capacity of the country’s coal mines is much more than this figure and development of the mining sector and modernization projects can play an effective role in increasing employment in this sector.

Unofficial data indicate that there are 185 small and large coal mines in the country, of which more than 59 percent are currently active, while 10 mines are being equipped and prepared, and the rest are idle

MA/MA