Iran exported 80,000 tons of copper cathode worth $512 million during March 20-December 20, 2020, according to statistics by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA).
The average price of exported copper cathode stood at some $6,395 per ton, IRNA reported on Sunday.
Based on the figures released by Iranian Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade, the production of copper cathode in the nine-month period reached 192,000 tons, showing an increase of nine percent compared to the same period in its preceding year.
In May 2020, four development projects worth over $950 million were inaugurated in the copper sector of Kerman Province in southeastern Iran.
President Hassan Rouhani put the projects into operation through a videoconference.
The projects inaugurated in Khatunabad Copper Complex were aimed at increasing the capacity of copper smelting in the complex, building a copper concentrate storage, and constructing a sulfuric acid production plant and an oxygen supplying unit.
Iran plans to be among the top 10 copper cathode producers in the world by 2025, said the managing director of National Iranian Copper Industries Company (NICICO) in 2018.
Iran’s copper cathode production capacity will reach 655,000 tons in 2025, Mohammadreza Bani-Assadi said.
The official added that Iran has 21 million tons of copper reserves equaling to 1.3 percent of the global reserves.
He further said the NICICO’s copper concentrate production capacity stands at over 1.2 million tons per year and the figure will hit 2.5 million tons under the 2025 Development Vision.
Six copper mines are currently operating in the country.