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Iran Economy Update
Issue 24/2017 MONDAY FEBRUARY 20TH
Iran rejects EU’s allegation of steel dumping in European markets
An IMIDRO senior official rejected the EU’s assertion that has accused Iran of “trade distortion measures” in the steel market, and said the proclamation of Iran’s dumping of steel is baseless.
On February 16, Reuters wrote that European steelmakers' association Eurofer says Iran has increased exports of hot rolled flat steel rapidly to the EU market and has accused Iran of "trade distorting measures".
A European Commission source has told Reuters that the EU executive has until April 7 to decide whether to impose anti-dumping penalties on Iran following an investigation into whether the country has been selling steel at below market prices.
In response, IMIDRO CEO Mehdi Karbasian told Mehr News on Sunday that such accusations are made because of the recession hitting this industry in the world on the one hand, and the concerns of some people who are worried about losing their steel market on the other. Karbasian said that last year, Iran exported 4 million tonnes of steel and this year, that record was broken. “We don’t accept such accusations which have been raised against the Mobarakeh Steel Company. This company exports steel to Europe based on international regulations,” said Karbasian.
We’ve hired a lawyer to defend us, he added.
On Wednesday, after a two-day conference on steel in Tehran, Iran said it aims to export between 20 and 25 million tonnes annually of steel by 2025 and to increase total output to 55 million tonnes from an
estimated 16 million tonnes now, according to Reuters.
Iran-Finland evaluate developing mineral cooperation
IMIDRO CEO Mehdi Karbasian said that in order to develop its mineral and mineral industries sector, Iran needs some $50 billion in investment, Fars news agency reported on Sunday. Speaking at a seminar on Iran-Finland mineral cooperation opportunities, Karbasian said that Iran is ready to cooperate with this country in the mineral sector and that an agreement has already been signed with the Finnish Geology Survey of Finland. This seminar was attended by ten Finnish senior managers including Mika Nykänen, the director of the Finnish Geology Survey who in an address to the audiences said Iran needs to provide more incentives to encourage foreign investment, according to Fars news agency. As another speaker at the event, the Finnish deputy minister of Economic Affairs & Employment said his country can provide Iran with green and renewable technologies that will boost efficiency. He said Iran’s Energy minister is scheduled to visit Finland in March and more discussions on mineral and energy cooperation can be held then.
About 60 pct of Iran’s imports are sourced from five countries
The Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA) published a report on Sunday on the diversification of Iran’s import sources, which are heavily reliant on five countries, namely China, UAE, Korea, Turkey, and Germany. The news agency argues that almost 60 percent of the country’s imports are sourced from these countries, whereas one of the most important factors in foreign
2 trade is the compositing and diversification of import sources. “The more import sources are diversified, the less the economy would be susceptible to international threats,” wrote ISNA. The statistics ISNA provides, which are based on the figures of the customs administration, show that in the first ten months of the current Persian year (21 March 2016– 19 Jan 2017), China, UAE, Korea, Turkey and Germany had the most contribution in Iran’s imports, which can be summarized in the following pie chart:
As you see in the following table, the customs’ statistics show that Korea’s contribution (in terms of value) to Iran’s imports in the 10-month period in 2016 has dropped to 7.96%, from 9.01% in the same period in 2015.
2016 2015 y-o-y
change % value share % value share%
China 8.40 24.02 8.51 25.11 -1.27 UAE 5.48 15.69 6.19 18.29 -11.47 Korea 2.78 7.96 3.05 9.01 -8.74 Turkey 2.19 6.27 2.46 7.27 -10.99 Germany 1.19 5.61 1.43 4.25 36.39 other 14.15 40.45 12.22 36.07 15.72 Total 34.98 100 33.89 100 3.21
And it is a worth here to take a look at the pie chart of Iran’s non-oil export targets:
Source: Iran’s Customs office
Meanwhile, the secretary of the Iranian Industry, Mine & Trade House has said that the annual importation of $15-20 billion worth of goods from the UAE is “a matter of regret”. Mohammadreza Mortazavi who was speaking at a national ceremony on Sunday said that this is a matter of regret because the UAE is not the producer of the goods and only plays the role of an intermediary.
“We should buy goods from the countries that have official representatives and provide after-sale services,” he said, according to ISNA.
In a separate development, Tasnim news agency has republished the Euro Stat report on the EU commission’s trade with Iran in 2016, and its comparison with a year earlier.
According to the Euro Stat report, Iran’s trade with the 28 members of the EU in 2016 amounted to 13.7 billion euros, which indicates an increase of 78% compared with 2015, when the trade volume between the two sides was 7.68 billion euros.
2016 2015 y-o-y change Iran-EU trade volume 13.7 7.68 78%
Iran’s exports to EU 5.46 1.23 343%
Iran’s imports from EU 8.24 6.45 27%
Figures are in billion euros
Secondary source: Tasnim, Primary source: Euro Stat
China 24.02%
UAE 15.69%
Korea 7.96%
Turkey 6.27%
Germany 5.61%
other 40.45%
Iran's top import sources (March 16- Jan 17)
China 18.55%
UAE 16.06%
Iraq 14.29%
Turkey 7.99%
Korea 7.28%
Other 35.83%
Iran top five non-oil export targets (March 16-Jan 17)
