Negotiations were currently underway between Iran’s Central Iron Ore Company (ICIOC) and Saudi Arabia on a five-year deal that would see the export of 600,000 tons of Iron ore to the kingdom, company sources told Tehran News.
ICIOC has recently finalized a three million dollar contract with Pakistan for the export of 118,000 tons of iron ore over the next six months’ period. Over the coming five years, ICIOC will export a total of 400,000 tons of iron ore to neighboring Pakistan via the sea.
A subsidiary of the state-owned National Iranian Steel Company (NISCO), ICIOC operates the Choghart iron ore mine located near Bafq, in the central province of Yazd. The Choghart mine is the largest iron mine in the country with an annual production capacity of 3.2 million tons.
Running five major integrated steel plants with total production of 6.6 million tons per year of crude steel, NISCO was ranked as the world’s 22nd largest steel producing company in 2001. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
