Iran eyes ranking among top 10 copper cathode producers
Iran plans to take a ranking among the top 10 copper cathode producers in the world by 2025, said managing director of National Iranian Copper Industries Company (NICICO).
In 2025, Iran’s copper cathode production capacity will reach 655,000 tons, Mohammadreza Baniasadi told a press conference in Tehran, Trend News Agency reported.
The official added that Iran has 21 million tons of copper reserves which equals 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 stands at over 1.2 million tons per year and this figure is set to reach 2.5 million tons under the 2025 Development Vision.
Iran’s copper concentrate output registered a six-percent rise in the last fiscal year which ended on 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, which is 17 percent less year-on-year.
Iran’s anode copper production also stood at 201,234 tons in the year to March 20, 2018 registering a decline of 11 percent compared to the figure for the preceding year.
Six copper mines are currently operating in the country.