Tehran, Iran, May 12
By Kamyar Eghbalnejad - Trend:
Iran plans to take place among the top 10 copper cathode producers in the world by 2025, Mohammad Reza Baniasadi, managing director of National Iranian Copper Industries Company(NICICO), said.
In 2025, Iran's copper cathode production capacity will reach 655,000 tons, Baniasadi said in a press conference in Tehran, Trend correspondent reported.
The official added that Iran holds 21 million tons of copper reserves which is equal to 1.3 percent of the global reserves.
Baniasadi added that the current per capita copper cathode production stands at 16.1 tons, up from 10.7 tons in 2013.
The company plans to increase the figure to 22.5 tons by 2025, he added.
Meanwhile the global per capita copper cathode production is close to 24 tons, Baniasadi said.
He further said that the NICICO’s copper concentrate production capacity is over 1.2 million tons per year.
The country’s copper concentrate production capacity is planned to hit 2.5 million tons under the 2025 Development horizon, he added.
Iran’s copper concentrate output registered an increase by 6 percent in the last fiscal year, ended March 20, 218 and amounted to 1.141 million tons.
The country also produced 160,128 tons of cathode copper in the 12-month period, 17 percent less year-on-year.
Iran’s anode copper production also stood at 201,234 tons in the last fiscal year, registering a fall by 11 percent compared to the preceding year.
At present, six copper mines are operating in the country.
