Malek Rahmati, head of Iran Stone Association, made the remarks in a press conference on Wednesday.
He added that there are 2.5 billion tons of building stones in Iran, adding “we have the capacity to produce as many as 30 million tons of building stones, but today, we are only producing 13.5 million tons, which is one-third of the country’s capacity.”
Stressing that the country’s mines cannot be put under sanctions, he said that Iranian building stones are exported to 42 countries.
“Iran exports 269,000 tons of finished stones to Iraq, and 110,000 tons to the UAE, which amounts to 65% of our total exports,” he said.
He added that the exports of stone blocks are destined for 44 countries around the world; “China is our major client by importing 812,000 tones of stone blocks, and France imports the least amount. Our total stone blocks exports stand at one million tons.”
He put the value of the exports at $161 million, adding “$140 million worth of stones are exported to China, while India, the UAE, Italy, Turkey, Iraq, Spain, Oman, Taiwan, and Malaysia are the next major importers of Iranian stones.”
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