TEHRAN (Iran News) –The Carpet Museum of Iran, with its dazzling beauty, is one of the tourist spots located in the Iranian capital, Tehran.

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Speaking to ILNA, Masoud Sepehrzad said that the demand for Iranian hand-woven carpets abroad has declined because the fluctuation of the fore price has led to the rise in the final price of the carpet and it has almost doubled it. He added that for example once could buy some certain carpet for 1,000 dollars last year but he has to pay for it at least 3,000 dollars this year and this type of rise in the price of carpet is not logical and acceptable for foreign purchaser.

He went on to say that the devaluation of rial against dollar has affected the price of hand-woven carpets, adding that share of Iran’s daily sale of carpet in the international markets is decreasing day in day.

He went on to say that Nepal, India and Pakistan have replaced Iran in the international hand-woven carpet market, adding that decline is not limited only to the international market as the domestic market has faced recession because people can’t afford to buy Iranian carpet because of decline in purchasing power.

He also said that there ae some 12m carpet-weavers in the country that the number of weavers is on decline because of lack of support by the government and lack of insurance and for this reason condition for the weavers is not well but he cannot confirm that Iranian carpet-weavers leave the country to Turkey.

Sepehrzad added that to receive Iranian carpet place in the international market it needs a strong determination in all organs and it really needs strong determination of the establishment to help Iranian carpet to win back their position in the international market.

He also criticized the performance of the ministry of heritage and tourism for the way of presenting Iranian carpets in the museums and said that the ministry can preserve the carpets in the museum in a way that the carpets do not suffer damages.

He also rejected the claim over missing carpets from Saadabad Museum Carpets and said that those carpets have been transferred to Iran Carpet Museum and the former minister’s remarks on the worthliness of those carpets show his ignorance and cognizance.

He urged the ministry of heritage and tourism to work on displaying and promoting Iranian carpets which can boost hand-woven carpet industry in the country.

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Seyed Razi Miri said that according to the statistics, the amount of Iran’s carpet exports was around $70m but this amount has declined and almost been zeroed.

On the latest condition of Iran’s hand-woven carpet exports to different countries, he said since the country is under sanctions, Iran cannot export carpet to the U.S. so the exports to the U.S. are zero unless exports are done via the third party countries or changing the documents of the exports.

He said Iranian carpets are taken to a country like Pakistan or Turkey and its document is illegally changed in order to be exported to the U.S. He reiterated that even after Joe Biden took office in the U.S., nothing has changed regarding Iran’s carpet exports to this country.

He added that Iran’s carpet exports to other countries have also declined in recent years due to the changes in the domestic regulations, adding that Iran’s carpet exports according to the statistics were around $70m which have now been almost zeroed.

Meanwhile the head of Industry, Mine, and Trade Organization in Kerman Province said that over 2 million dollars of hand-woven carpets exported from this province to other countries.

Mehdi Hosseinnejadian said that in past one year, over two million dollars of hand-woven carpets exported from this province to other countries.

Carpet weaving is a well-known Iranian art worldwide and is also very popular in different Iranian cities especially Kerman, Isfahan, and Chahar Mahal and Bakhtiari provinces.

Rouhollah Latifi, the spokesman for Iran’s Customs Administration, said on Dec 19, 2020 that the value of exports of the country’s hand-woven carpets has been 48.9 million dollars in past eight months of the Iranian year (starting on March 20, 2020).

The figure shows 800,000 dollars decrease that seems logical due to the pandemic and closure of the borders, Rouhollah Latifi told IRNA.

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TEHRAN – Spokesperson to Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) Ruhollah Latifi says Iran has exported hand-woven carpet worth of $47.9m in the past eight months which shows only $800m decline comparing to the same period last year.

Latifi in an interview with IRNA said that exports of gabbe (a variety of Persian carpet) and hand-woven carpets with soft hair and wool stood at $2.7m in the first eight months while the figure was around $4.1m last year.

He went on to say that exports of other types of hand-woven carpets were also as much as last year’s figure.

Latifi noted that the total value of hand-woven carpets exported by the country in the first eight months last year was around $48.6m while the figure declined for almost $755m and hit $47.9m in the same period.

He blamed the outbreak of COVID-19 and closure of borders for the decline, adding that the decline seems being logical.

He refuted some claims that Iran’s carpet exports have slumped significantly, saying that carpet is a commodity which is sold gradually and repatriation of the earned forex from the exports to the country takes long procedure and for this reason some assumptions have been raised over the considerable decline of Iran carpet exports but the IRICA’s statistics show no significant change in carpet exports.

In order to boost the carpet exports for earning more forex for the country, the government in its next year budget has allocated a budget around 15.5b tomans.

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TEHRAN – A member of Tehran Chamber of Commerce believes Iran’s carpet export is in a very bad condition due to several existing problems.

Speaking to ILNA, Mr. Razi Miri said that the current condition because of the Coronavirus has put the people in bad a situation in the target countries for exports, and by the way Iran is currently under the U.S. sanctions and it has problem in trade and transfer of money and transportation.

He added due to these problems, Iran’s exports are currently in a very bad condition. On using method of bartering goods for carpet exports, he said export of carpet and the like goods like traditional goods is not like the export of industrial goods which are in great number. He added it means one consignment of carpet export may value between 10,000 to 20,000 dollars, adding that carpet export can on aggregate have huge amount of turnover but the figure for each individual is not a big number. So this method is not compatible with bartering because importers need a big amount of money and exporter of carpet cannot provide it, he noted.

Miri went on to say that so bartering cannot happen in this case and this issue creates many problems for exporters of carpet.

On the effects of volatile forex rate in the market, he said the rise and fall of the dollar rate not only is a disaster for the carpet exporter but also for all exporters.

Miri stated that this is the worst condition for an exporter who does not know his future of trade.

Touching upon the condition of carpet producers and exporters, he said the condition is very bad because carpet is not a basic commodity and it is considered a luxurious commodity. He said in normal condition, the target markets can help the industry but currently due to the coronavirus pandemic, all of the target markets are in bad condition, and by the way Iran is under sanctions and traders have problem for trade with the target markets especially in transfer of money and transportation.

Miri concluded his words by saying that the carpet export condition is currently very bad.

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TEHRAN – The Caretaker of Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade says due to the sanctions, Iran’s carpet export is experiencing its worst condition as the revenue in this sector has slumped to from $2b to $60m.

Speaking in the ceremony of signing agreement for  constructing 800 kilometers of railroad, Hossein Modarres Khiabani said the ministry has an expanded plan for increasing the steel production capacity as the country exported 57m tons of different steel products and increasing the amount of exports needs boosting transportation sector.

He said steel ingot export will increase from 28m tons to 42m tons and today 26m tons of different types of steel products will be added to the list of exports.

Modarres Khiabani added that one of the important factors in export of steel is the logistic and transportation, adding that today the project for construction of 800 kilometers of railroad between Bafq and Sangan which is launched is an important event in the cargo transportation field and the project will definitely help provision of raw material in the country and at the same time it will help exports.

He emphasized the share of rail transportation from the total transportation in the country is extremely low, adding that rail transportation for transfer of cargo and passengers should be boosted.

He further said that transportation of basic goods has improved from 10 percent two years ago to 25 percent but it is still unacceptable.

Modarres Khiabani reiterated that production without developing infrastructures and logistic as well as growth in transportation sector is impossible.

He pointed to the capacities of mines in the country, adding that Iran’s mineral reserves are estimated at 53b tons as the ministry has issued license for exploiting 700m tons but only 500m tons have been exploited.

He noted that while Iran accounts for one percent of world population, its mineral reserves are 2 percent and mines are the only major option for replacement for oil revenues.

Modarres Khiabani added that the burden of oil sanctions is currently on the shoulder of mines sector, adding that if Iran’s economy is single-product, it only belongs to the mine sector.

He said undoubtedly shipment of 500m tons of minerals through road transportation is impossible and rail transport should also enter the scene.

He once again reiterated that in industry ministry, there is nothing more important than domestic production, expressing satisfaction that a dairy producing company exports products worth $600m.

On the condition of carpet exports, he said unfortunately due to sanctions, the carpet export experiences the worst condition as the revenues of this sector from export has fallen from $2b to $60m.

Modarres Khiabani reiterated that the ministry only believes in imports of three types of goods and they should be raw material, basic goods and parts which are not produced domestically.

Later during the ceremony marking the national industry and mine day, he said today industry accounts for 23 percent  of jobs in the country and 76 percent of the total non-oil exports.

He further said that statistics show that the trade in the country is returning to the pre-Coronavirus  era.

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TEHRAN – Head of Iran’s National Carpet Center Ms. Farahnaz Rafe says the outbreak of coronavirus has affected the carpet market in the country and it has inflicted losses on carpet weaving workshops and threatens this sector.

On the outbreak of coronavirus and its impacts on the carpet economy of the country, Mr. Rafe said that most people involved in the carpet industry in the country do not have monthly salaries and they are mostly get daily-base wages and they get salary based on their performance in a month.

She admitted that carpet market has been badly in recession in recent days, adding that carpet shop owners and vendors have not ever experienced such a recession in their business on the eve of Nowruz (New Year) which will begin next Friday.

Rafe went on to say that most vendors and people in this business nowadays are unable to observe their financial obligations and they will definitely face many financial problems.

She noted that most hand-woven carpet weavers pay their insurance premium to the Social Welfare Organization by themselves at the end of every month and due to this hardship and almost halt in the business in the workshops, they are unable to pay it easily.

Rafe added that most of women active in this business are caretakers of their households and they will suffer more.

She said the National Carpet Center monitors carefully the effects of coronavirus on the national economy and it is working on solutions to overcome the woe.

She reiterated coronavirus has affected all businesses in the country and even in the world, and the center in collaboration with ministry of industry works to reduce negative impacts of this virus on the economy especially on hand-woven carpet industry.

In January, Rafe replaced Fereshteh Dastpak who had been the head of INCC since May 2018.

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TEHRAN – Head of handicrafts, carpet and tourism committee of Iran Chamber of Cooperatives Mr. Abdollah Bahrami believes by a good and wise planning,carpets and handicrafts can replace oil sales revenues in the country.

Bahrami in a joint press conference with the managing director of Talfigh-e Honar Cooperatives Mr. Seyed Morteza Mortezavi highlighted major programs of cooperative sector in the country in handicrafts industry and ways to reduce reliance on oil revenues.

Bahrami said that Iran’s sales of hand-woven carpets in the past two decades usually stood at $1.5 and over 2m carpet weavers were active in the country while the annual capacity for producing hand-woven carpets was around 6m square meters and it could earn the country $3b through exports of carpet.

He went on to say that lack of attention by the government and abundant problems for carpet-weavers caused Iran to lose its world stance and its forex revenues began to fall. He added that although Iran is full of designs and priceless treasury in diversity in designs, and over 6,000 educated people are involved in the carpet industry, exports and production of carpets are declining due to inattention and negligence.

He also criticized Iran’s Central Bank’s regulations for hand-woven carpet exporters, adding that it takes one year and exporters have to sell their forex in the NIMA system.

He went on to criticize the government for stopping support of carpet weavers by cutting their insurance. He added that the government is not ready to pay its share of social welfare insurance and carpet weavers themselves have to pay the total money and most of them cannot afford them and leave the job.

Bahrami went on to say that in the past, carpet industry was exempted from paying value added tax because most of hand-woven carpet producers from the lowest deciles of the society but today both sale and export have to pay 9 percent VAT.

He added that currently over one million people are active in carpet industry and they can earn the country over $3b.

He said the value of hand-woven carpet last year stood at $420m but the figure has been only $30m in the first four months of the current year.

Bahrami noted that over 113,000 cooperatives for producing hand-woven carpets exist in the country and the number of weavers who are under social welfare insurance is unknown.

He admitted that carpet industry has faced both domestic and international sanctions, adding that exports are done in rial but the raw material for weaving are bought based on free market price.

Bahrami said that Germany, the UAE, South Africa, China and Japan are main destinations for Iran’s hand-woven carpets.

He reiterated that to boost the carpet industry, it needs financial facilities, adding that levying VAT on carpet industry has increased the production cast.

Meanwhile the CEO of Talfigh-e Honar Cooperatives Mr. Mortezavi said that most of handicrafts in the country are produced in the houses and over 6100 workshops are active in the country and over 5,000 people are busy in the handicrafts industry.

He added that according to the statistics, the country exports one million barrel of oil per day and $6m enter into the treasury while by exporting 10,000 pieces of handicrafts, the country can earn the same amount of money.

He reiterated that over 180,000 pieces of handicrafts are produced in the country per day and each piece worth 200 to 400 euros.

Mortezavi added that the statistics show that handicrafts industry can earn 18 times more than what oil earns the country like India whose revenues from handicrafts are over billion dollars.

He said that Iran is the biggest hub of handicrafts industry in West Asia and it can earn money equal to oil revenues in three years.

He went on to say that currently Iran’s handicrafts are exported to European countries and Canada and soon a permanent exhibition for sales of Iranian handicrafts will be set up in Afghanistan, while the cooperative has programs to have vast presence in Germany and Poland.

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Head of Iran National Carpet Center (INCC) Fereshteh Dastpak expressed hope that China would ease the ground for imports of silk for Iranian carpet weavers.

Speaking in the gathering  on reviewing Iran-China economic relations in Tehran, Dastpak said that hand-woven carpet is Iran’s oldest export stuff to China, adding that last month a huge artistic silk carpet, woven by 180 weavers from Isfahan Province based on a design from a Chinese artist, was handed over to one of China’s museums.

She added that carpet has always been the symbol of culture and traditions for Iran and it is somewhat a joint production of Iran and China.

She added that silk hand-woven carpets account for 20 percent of Iran’s carpet exports while 90 percent of silk for weaving carpet is imported from China, expressing hope that since carpet is a strategic production, China’s government would ease the ground for export of silk for Iranian weavers.

She added that carpet was the second target of the U.S. sanctions while over eight million people earn their lives in this industry, adding that 90 percent of Iran’s carpet products are exported.

She demanded China officials to help Iran to make the U.S. sanctions ineffective in order that Iran could export carpet to other countries via China.

She noted that Chinese people like Iranian carpets, expressed hope the trade between both countries in carpet sector along with exports would increase.

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