Economy

This category relates to all Iranian Economy related news

September 4, 2013

Rupee’s plunge prompts refiner to embrace Iran: Corporate India helps

Excerpts from the article “Rupee’s plunge prompts refiner to embrace Iran: Corporate India helps” which appeared in Iran Focus website, copied from Bloomberg, on 02/09/2013

– Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd. (MRPL), India’s biggest buyer of Iranian crude, plans to buy five cargoes of 85,000 metric tons each this month, compared with three in August, Managing Director P.P. Upadhya said in an interview. Shipments from the world’s only producer that accepts rupee payments for oil are estimated to rise to 4 million tons in the year ending March 31, versus 3.9 million tons in the previous 12 months.

– “Buying more crude from Iran is positive for Indian refiners like Mangalore Refinery due to currency benefit and lower freight cost,” said Kamlesh Kotak, head of research at Asian Markets Securities Pvt. Ltd. “This would be a short term benefit, and the government needs a structured policy to handle the current-account deficit better.”

– In the absence of Iranian oil, refiners would need to buy crude from the spot market which is typically more expensive. Mangalore Refinery reported a loss of 4.5 billion rupees ($68 million) in the three months ended June 30, its third consecutive quarter of losses. Raw material costs rose 6.8 percent to 144.1 billion rupees compared with a year earlier.

 

Reference: http://www.iranfocus.com/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=28222:rupees-plunge-prompts-refiner-to-embrace-iran-corporate-india-helps-&catid=31:economy&Itemid=46

August 26, 2013

Iran’s president appoints new head of central bank as nuclear program sanctions eat at economy

Excerpts from the article “Iran’s president appoints new head of central bank as nuclear program sanctions eat at economy” which appeared in Fox News website on 25/08/2013

– The report Sunday said President Hasan Rouhani picked Valiollah Seif to run the country’s financial regulator. It said Seif will replace outgoing central bank head Mahmoud Bahmani.

– Seif ran the private Karafarin bank in Iran. He also supports independence for the central bank and a floating rate for Iran’s currency, the rial, against foreign currencies.

 

Reference: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/08/25/iran-president-appoints-new-head-central-bank-as-nuclear-program-sanctions-eat/?

August 26, 2013

Stalemate over detention of Indian tanker by Iran persists

Excerpts from the article “Stalemate over detention of Indian tanker by Iran persists” which appeared in Free Republic website, copied from Economic Times of India, on 25/08/2013

– The deadlock over detention of an Indian oil tanker by Iranian authorities at Bandar Abbas port failed to resolve with virtually no progress on the issue even as it entered the 14th day today.

– A top official of the Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) also said that “Efforts are on to get the ship released. All 32 men on board it are also there besides the team which was sent to inspect the oil tanker for any pollution.

 

Reference: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3058764/posts

August 26, 2013

Petropars to implement Phase 11 of South Pars development plan as foreign firms pull out

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Excerpts from the article “Petropars to implement Phase 11 of South Pars development plan as foreign firms pull out” which appeared in The Tehran Times on 25/08/2013

– Iran’s Petropars Company will implement Phase 11 of the South Pars gas field development project as France’s Total, Malaysia’s Petronas, and China’s CNPC have pulled out of the project, IRNA reported.

– Phase 11 is projected to yield 2 billion cubic feet of sour gas and 80,000 barrels of as condensates per day.

– Iran is currently producing 300 million cubic meters per day of gas from the South Pars.

 

Reference: http://tehrantimes.com/economy-and-business/110260-petropars-to-implement-phase-11-of-south-pars-development-plan-as-foreign-firms-pull-out

 

August 25, 2013

Iran boosts iron exports to China, India as oil sales slump

Excerpts from the article “Iran boosts iron exports to China, India as oil sales slump” which appeared in Iran Focus website, copied from Reuters, on 23/08/2013

– While Iran’s oil exports have halved in the last few years due to western sanctions over the country’s disputed nuclear program, iron ore exports have grown by more than 60 percent over the same period to an annual rate of about 25 million tonnes, worth about $3 billion a year at current prices.

– The extra billion dollars a year that Iran is gaining from the additional iron exports, however, is still very small when compared with the loss in oil revenue of roughly $35 billion a year.

– While China primarily buys raw iron ore, the Islamic Republic is also boosting its exports to India of sponge iron, often referred to as direct-reduction iron.

– Like iron ore, sponge iron does not directly come under Western sanctions, but if the exporter is part of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or is on the U.S.’ Specially Designated Nationals list, this could trigger sanctions on the foreign buyer, said Nathan Carleton, communications director at advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran.

 

Reference: http://www.iranfocus.com/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=28169:iran-boosts-iron-exports-to-china-india-as-oil-sales-slump&catid=31:economy&Itemid=46

August 25, 2013

Sasol Exits Iranian Venture

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Excerpts from the article “Sasol Exits Iranian Venture” which appeared in C&EN (Chemical and Engineering News) website on 26/08/2013

– To help clear a path for a planned $20 billion in investments in Louisiana, Sasol, the South African energy and chemical firm, has agreed to sell its stake in its Iranian joint venture, Arya Sasol Polymer Co. The venture, to be sold to a South African affiliate of an Iranian investor, had become legally risky for Sasol as U.S. economic sanctions have mounted against Iran over its nuclear program.

 – Sasol formed Arya Sasol in 2003 with National Petrochemical Co. of Iran to build a chemical complex in the Persian Gulf province of Bushehr. The partners completed an ethylene cracker in 2007. Polyethylene plants followed in 2009.

– Sasol disclosed it would review the Iranian stake in November 2011, soon after it announced massive gas-to-liquids and ethylene projects for Louisiana. Together, the facilities could cost as much as $21 billion.

– Sasol isn’t the first chemical firm to be taken to task over business entanglements in Iran. Huntsman Corp. ended sales to Iran in 2010. A year earlier, Lyondell­Basell Industries said it wouldn’t pursue new business in that country.

 

August 25, 2013

Iran oil minister vows to revive output as he eyes price war

Excerpts from the article “Iran oil minister vows to revive output as he eyes price war” which appeared in Iran Focus website, copied from Bloomberg, on 22/08/2013

– In his first few days as oil minister in President Hassan Rohani’s new government in Tehran, the 61-year-old initiated plans to revive oil production to pre-2005 levels, hinted at a price war to win old customers and brought back managers sidelined by the previous administration.

– “We only ask those who have replaced us in the world’s oil markets to know that when we are reentering these markets they will have to accept that oil prices decline or they should reduce their production to create enough space for Iran’s oil.”

– Iran, historically the second-largest oil producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries after Saudi Arabia, has slipped to sixth place.

– “One of Zanganeh’s challenges is that Ahmadinejad fired 250 experienced managers and replaced them with less qualified allies,” said Sara Vakhshouri, a former adviser to the director of National Iranian Oil Co. International, the foreign trading division of Iran’s state oil company. “Priority is now to get those managers back and ramp up production.”

– Ahmadinejad brought in his allies and appointed four different oil minsters during his eight years as president. In 2011, he named Rostam Qasemi, head of Khatam Anbia, the Revolutionary Guards’ engineering arm, to replace Massoud Mir-Kazemi, another Guards commander.

 

Reference: http://www.iranfocus.com/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=28165:iran-oil-minister-vows-to-revive-output-as-he-eyes-price-war&catid=31:economy&Itemid=46

August 25, 2013

India’s Iran oil imports drop 75 pct in July

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Excerpts from the article “India’s Iran oil imports drop 75 pct in July – trade” which appeared in Trend website on 22/08/2013

– India’s imports of Iranian crude plunged by three quarters in July from June, tanker arrival data obtained by Reuters showed, as the country’s only active importer in the past two months curbed buying.

– Indian imports of Iranian crude are expected to rise from August, however, with refiner Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd resuming shipments after a gap of four months because of a separate insurance issue.

– Iran dropped in July to 15th place on the list of India’s crude suppliers for the month, down from eighth place in June and fourth for all of 2012.

– In the first half of 2013, imports of Iranian oil from its four biggest buyers – China, India, Japan and South Korea – fell more than a fifth from a year ago to around 960,000 bpd.

– India imported nearly 58 percent more oil from Latin America in the January to July period as its Iranian shipments dropped.

 

Reference: http://en.trend.az/regions/iran/2181686.html

August 24, 2013

“العقوبات” موجعة: روحاني یخفض میزانیة إیران من ٦٨ إلى ٤٥ ملیار دولار!

Excerpts from the article “”العقوبات” موجعة: روحاني یخفض میزانیة إیران من ٦٨ إلى ٤٥ ملیار دولار!” which appeared in the Middle East Transparent website on 18/08/2013

– قال مسؤولان حكومیان كبیران إن إیران تواجھ عجزا بمقدار الثلث في میزانیة العام الحالي بسبب إیرادات أقل من المتوقع وإن خطط الإنفاق ستخضع للمراجعة في الشھر المقبل.

– وقال إسحاق جھانجیري نائب الرئیس إن الإیرادات لا تغطي ثلث المیزانیة البالغة نحو 68 ملیار دولار للسنة الفارسیة بین مارس آذار 2013 ومارس 2014 وذلك نقلا عن أرقام قدمتھا حكومة الرئیس السابق محمود أحمدي نجاد. وقال محمد باقر نوبخت وھو مساعد آخر لروحاني في تصریحات للتلفزیون الإیراني مساء السبت إن میزانیة معدلة ستعرض على البرلمان بحلول منتصف سبتمبر

أیلول.

 

Reference: http://www.metransparent.com/spip.php?article22925

August 24, 2013

The Revolutionary Guards’ involvement in the economy comes under increasing criticism following Rowhani’s victory in the presidential election

Excerpts from the article “The Revolutionary Guards’ involvement in the economy comes under increasing criticism following Rowhani’s victory in the presidential election” which appeared in Meir Amit Terrorism Information Center on 08/08/2013

– Last week Majles member Ahmad Tavakoli called on the government to limit and redefine the involvement of military officials in the economy.

– Just days later, the Alef website posted an editorial in which it referred to the military’s penetration into the economy as “the mother of all diseases”.

– Economist Dr. Ali Ghanbari also called on the government to put an end to the military’s economic involvement, arguing that it puts the economy in danger and keeps the private sector from playing a major role, which is vital for economic development.

– As an example of the growing involvement of the armed forces in the economy, the website Alef mentioned that Tose’e-ye E’temad Mobin, a corporation some of whose companies are affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, won a transaction signed in September 2009, in which 50 percent plus one share of the Telecommunications Company of Iran were offered at the Tehran stock exchange.

– Seyyed Hassan Firouzabadi, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, said at a conversation with journalists this week that there is nothing wrong with the armed forces helping the government in the field of economy. it was the assistance extended by the armed forces in various fields that made it possible to achieve significant progress in constructing dams, building factories, and all other economic fields.

– Ramazan Sharif, the spokesman of the Revolutionary Guards noted that Mohammad- Ali Ja’fari, commander of the Revolutionary Guards, has worked since the beginning of his term to restrict the organization’s involvement in projects that can be completed through local contractors.

– The Bultan News website recently published an article by Dr. Hassan Rahimi of the University of Bu-Ali Sina in the city of Hamdan, arguing that there is nothing wrong with military officials becoming involved in the economy or being recruited into top executive positions. Rahimi argued that, at any rate, with conditions being what they are, the Iranian private sector has neither the funds nor the ability required for carrying out large-scale projects, such as completing the South Pars gas field.

 

Reference: http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/en/article/20557