Page 53 - IRANRptJul20

transactions in the Iranian capital of 15.2mn people in Mehr reached 3,400, up 22.0% m/m and down 63.7% y/y.
District 1, consisting of uptown neighbourhoods, had an average price of IRR269.6mn per sqm, while District 2, also uptown, had an average price of IRR219.9mn per sqm.
At the other end of the scale is District 18. It appears to now be the cheapest area in Tehran with an average per sqm value of IRR55.2mn. District 19 was a little more expensive at IRR61.75mn.
The most sales in the cited calendar month were seen in moderately priced District 5, which accounted for 15.1% of all sales. It was followed by Districts 2 and 4 with 9.1% and 7.9% shares of sales, respectively.
9.1.10 ​Metallurgy & mining sector news
US tightens sanctions screw on Iran’s metals sector
Iran’s Qara-Aghaj titanium ore mine declared fully operational
The US Treasury Department on June 25 blacklisted four companies in Iran’s metals sector, as well as one German and three Emirati subsidiaries of Iran’s largest steelmaker Mobarakeh Steel Company.
In a statement, the Treasury Department added that the sales agents together generated tens of millions of dollars annually from foreign sales of Mobarakeh Steel Company products, contributing to billions of dollars generated overall by Iran’s steel, aluminium, copper and iron sectors.
“The Iranian regime continues to use profits from metals manufacturers and foreign sales agents to fund destabilizing behavior around the world,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in the statement.
The sanctions are the latest US effort to tighten the screw on Iran. The Trump administration strategy is to asphyxiate the Iranian economy to the point that Tehran surrenders to an agreement under which its influence in the Middle East, particularly in conflict zones, would be seriously curtailed and its nuclear and ballistic missile development programmes would be placed under controls stringent enough to satisfy the White House.
The latest sanctions action targeted Tara Steel Trading, a Germany-based subsidiary of Mobarakeh Steel Co; United Arab Emirates-based sales agents Pacific Steel FZE, Better Future General Trading Co and Tuka Metal Trading, all majority-owned by Mobarakeh Steel Co; and Iran-based Metil Steel, also majority-owned by the company.
Mobarakeh Steel Co, previously blacklisted by Washington, accounts for 1% of Iran’s GDP, the Treasury said.
The Treasury also blacklisted Iran-based aluminium, steel and iron producers South Aluminum Company, Sirjan Jahan Steel Complex and Iran Central Iron Ore Company.
Also designated was Global Industrial and Engineering Supply, which the Treasury said had addresses in China and Hong Kong and had in 2019 knowingly transferred graphite to a blacklisted Iranian entity, Reuters reported. The sanctions freeze any US assets held by the companies. They also generally prohibit Americans from dealing with the entities targeted.
Parisa Abedpour, deputy head of Iran’s Ministry of Industry, Mines and Trade in West Azerbaijan province, has informed the state-run IRNA news agency that Qara-Aghaj titanium mineral ore mine near the provincial capital of Urmia is now fully operational ahead of the planned construction of a processing plant.
Qara-Aghaj is estimated to have 208mn tonnes of titanium-bearing ore, with an average grade of 8.5%, according to ​historic exploration data​ gathered by the Iranian Society of Mining and Engineering and cited by Mining Magazine.
53​ IRAN Country Report July 2020 www.intellinews.com