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which are not inflationary,” Qasemi was quoted as saying.
He added: "We will soon see measures taken in this period to build the one million housing units per year. And during this time, infrastructure will be provided for a serious leap in production.”
Qasemi added that at a recent construction materials exhibition in Tehran, he encountered startup companies offering methods for low-rise buildings that could form part of the programme.
The predecessor Rouhani administration also attempted to fix the housing crisis in Iran with low-cost homes, but it built only a fraction of what it intended due to ongoing property market shocks caused by very high inflation, sparked by the US reimposition of sanctions on Iran from 2018.
In a parting move, the Rouhani government pushed ahead with plans to build 1.3mn units.
Critics have complained that Maskan-e-Mehr projects are populist initiatives that can tank the property market with a great number of poorly-built properties appearing on the market in areas surrounding cities at the same time. In recent years, a significant number of people who moved into such properties have complained of a lack of utilities including gas connections and bus links to nearby cities.
9.1.11 Metallurgy & mining sector news
Cement plants in Iran ‘storing mazut as alternative fuel amid power cut anxieties’
Iran’s copper cathode production up 3% in first seven Persian months
Cement plants in Iran have started storing mazut as an alternative fuel amid anxieties that natural gas flow shortages in the country could lead to power cuts hitting industry, local press reports have this week quoted Iranian Cement Industry Association secretary Abdolreza Sheikhan as saying.
Mazut is a heavy, low quality “dirty” fuel oil left over after gasoline and lighter components are evaporated from crude oil.
Sheikhan reportedy noted that electricity outages during the summer led to a cement shortage on the Iranian market and increased cement prices. Simultaneous power and gas outages in the upcoming winter might mean the Iranian cement industry struggling to meet demand in Iran for cement, he was also quoted as saying.
Iran’s 62 cement companies produced 32.4mn tonnes of cement in the first half of the current Persian year (March 21-September 22), down 9.2% y/y, Global Cement reported on November 2. In the last Persian year, production was 68.3mn tonnes, with 11mn tonnes exported. Domestic cement consumption was 65mn tonnes, cited official statistics showed.
In the Iranian steel sector, crude steel output was 12.9mn tonnes in the first half of the current Persian year, data from the ministry of industry, mining and trade showed on November 2.
According to the Iranian Steel Producers Association, Iranian steel companies produced 30.2mn tonnes of crude steel in the last Persian full year, up 3% y/y. A total of 167,789 tonnes of copper cathode were produced in Iran in the first seven months of the current Persian calendar year (March 21 to October 22), marking a 3% y/y increase, ILNA reported on November 21. Having discovered more than 1.5bn tonnes of copper reserves in the past two years, Iran ranks seventh in the world for copper reserves and is trying to raise that rating one notch higher before the end of the present Persian year next March.
Copper cathode is the primary raw material input for the production of copper rod for the wire and cable industry. It is also used as a raw material feed for the
57 IRAN Country Report December 2021 www.intellinews.com