Speaking to ILNA, Hosseini said that the overhaul process of some refineries have prolonged and they have faced with problems in providing required parts and some of the refineries are under reconstruction and renovation, and for these reasons they have problem in production, and the rise in consumption because of the rise in the number of cars rolling in the streets has led to the rise in gasoline consumption. He reiterated that one should add gasoline smuggling to these problems as the other reasons for gasoline supply problem. He noted that today the amount of gasoline production equals with consumption but in the summer when the consumption will be more than production, the country will definitely turn into a gasoline importing country.

He went on to say that the capacity for gasoline production in the country is currently 110m liters per day and last year some 105m liters per day of gasoline was produced, reiterating that the real gasoline production capacity is around 103m liters per day but currently some 98m liters per day of gasoline is produced for the mentioned reasons.

Hosseini also said that the distributed gasoline in the big cities of the country is Euro 4 and 5, adding that 45m liters is Euro 4 which is produced at Shazand Refinery of Arak, adding that some refineries are still unable to produce Euro 4 and 5 gasoline but one should not blame this for the air pollution in big cities because one of the main factors behind air pollution is the old public transportation like taxi and bus and also the fuel which is used by the power plants.

He also said that major distributed gasoline is high quality one but most of vehicles are not standard, adding that if the country maintains daily production of gasoline at 104m liters per day, there will be no need to import gasoline or use gasoline of petro-refineries by the yearend.

He went on to say that the considerable difference between the price of gasoline in Iran with neighboring states has encouraged smuggling of gasoline to those countries and adjusting the price of gasoline in the country will help gasoline consumption in the country and decrease the amount of smuggling of gasoline to the neighboring states.

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Omid Qalibaf said that currently imports of home appliances are forbidden but exports of Iranian home appliance are in good and promising condition. He noted that currently 470 licenses have been issued for producing home appliances and the number for producing gas stove may be more and for TV may less but in the field of home appliances there are 200 producers on average and 15 of them are brands which account for 80% of the market.

He noted entering and exiting the market should be free, adding that the ministry cannot stop issuing production license due to claims of saturation in the market and it is against the competitive market because one may get license and produce a product much cheaper with higher quality through using better technology and management.

Qalibaf went on to say that some part of home appliances includes refrigerator, freezer, washing machine and TV which are widely used and there are more demands for them and their pricing is under supervision and their prices are fixed by the Headquarters for Regulating the Market.

He added that some part of the home appliance products are whose prices are fixed by the producers and the headquarters.

He noted that the ministry has controlled the factory inflation rate and it tries to lower it. He went on to say that although inflation weakens the competition in the domestic , the most important advantage of the domestic production is their after sales services which can distinguish domestic products from the smuggled ones and with the devaluation of national currency, the price of smuggled home appliances increase but it does not happen for the domestic products.

He once again reiterated that the government does not intend to lift ban on imports of home appliances for now and by the way exports of home-made home appliance products are in good condition.

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Speaking to ILNA, Araqi talked about Qatar’s gas plans in its joint gas fields with Iran and said that South Pars is a joint reservoir and both parties can extract from it as much as they can, adding that of course it has an international treaty that restricts both sides to extract the fields according to the international standards and currently Qatar is signing contracts and it recovers more while Iran because of lack of investment is unable to recover more.

He noted that currently South Pars fields have reached the stage where they need to increase the pressure, and it costs and it needs new technology for having horizontal exploitation while the Phase 11 of South Pars is progressing sluggishly and it lacks horizontal exploitation, new investment and boosting pressure. He admitted that the trend of job is not ideal and Qatar invests and uses new technology and signs contracts with big companies and it meets the demand of the world’s gas need and also takes more gas in the future, adding that the Iran’s side of wells see drop and there is no investment and the country is unable to import new technology.

Araqi reiterated that currently the gas production is facing downward trend and the more time passes, this decline will be intensified and the country will turn into a gas importing country and the oil ministry, government and Majlis should think of technology and investment and increase the pressure.

He went on to say that country is facing with a serious gas crisis, adding that for example in the winter gas supply for industries should be restricted and gas for households should not be cut because any disrupt in gas supply for households may lead to social crisis and if the gas supply for industries is restricted, economic crisis will happen in the country and industries like petrochemicals, steel and power plants will face problems and they will be pushed to move towards using the second fuel and it will lead to more air pollution.

He also called for reinforcing the pressure system in the gas fields and upgrading the technology and investment in new energies. He also urged the government and Majlis to focus on long-term projects and they need to make the nation aware of their decisions and make the difficult decision. He noted that today all part of the country is linked to gas energy and there is no network in the world like Iran because we have many transmission lines and reinforcing power stations.

Araqi reiterated that NIGC is unable to resolve the problem by itself and the oil ministry, government and Majlis should define a solution for this problem.

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Speaking to ILNA, Hosseini touched upon the importance of cutting the free rate gasoline quota from 250 liters to 150 liters and said that due to high potentials for smuggling gasoline, it was a correct decision because 60 liters of subsidized gasoline plus 150 liters of free rate gasoline is enough for a normal household.

He went on to say that gasoline production has declined by 11% in Persian Gulf Star Refinery and the country needs to construct a new refinery to compensate the shortage and it will take 3 to 4 years or the country will have to import gasoline otherwise the country should move towards producing gasoline in petrochemical companies or control consumption and demand and currently the best and safest is to control the consumption.

Hosseini admitted that currently the country is unable to sell gasoline at its real price in the country because of its bitter experiences in the past for hiking the prices, adding that due to big difference between gasoline prices in Iran with neighboring countries, it is smuggled and the best solution for controlling the market is rationing quota of cars.

He noted that if the government does not allocate rationing quota for 2500cc cars or more, a new price will be imposed in the market and owners of luxury cars will have to buy gasoline with higher prices and the government will at least move to hike the price of super gasoline or unsubsidized its price.

Hosseini reiterated that reducing the rationing quota does not mean necessarily reduction in consumption and gasoline with low price is apt to smuggling.

He admitted that due to decline in production and rise in consumption, there is possibility for the country to resort to imports, adding that there are some solutions to avoid imports and one is to optimize the fuel consumption especially in vehicles through changing or repairing engines of cars. He added that the second solution is to collect old and dilapidated cars which overconsume gasoline and cause pollution.

Hosseini stated that the other solution is smartizing the fuel consumption to monitor the amount of consumed fuel by each vehicle and the last one is to construct refinery and increase the production capacity.

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Speaking to ILNA, Hosseini said that there is this possibility of facing gasoline shortage in the summer because of the consumption, adding that the country should reactivate refining activities with identifying the weak points or else the country may be forced to import oil products.

On the possibility of exporting gasoline by Iran,he said that due to rise in the daily gasoline which has reached 120m liters per day, the refineries are unable to export gasoline and therefore nobody expects gasoline exports from those refineries but some refineries like Shazand, Bouali and Nouri which have petrochemical units and some mini-refineries which produce gasoline or light hydrocarbon continue exports, and major gasoline demands of Afghanistan market which is some 100,000 to 150,000 liters per month are provided by these refineries and some is exported to Iraq market. He added that some good quality gasoline product of mini-refineries is also exported to the UAE.

He reiterated that all refineries now are working with full speed and capacities but it is possible due to the rise in consumption in the summer and the country could face gasoline and it may force the country to import gasoline or the country will have to reactivate some refineries.

Hosseini went on to say that of course refineries are now in a better condition and in case they can sell more gasoline and gas oil, they will do it because they will earn more. He noted that no refinery prefers to produce naphtha and sell it at $700 or $800 per ton while it can earn some $1150 for gas oil and $150 for gasoline per barrel.

Hosseini admitted that Iran’s oil products have faced a new rival which has entered the market and it is Russian oil products which are becoming major rival of Iranian products.

He went on to say that by the way now India buys crude oil from Russia with cheaper price and it has made Iran face trouble in exporting its bitumen to India which has been the major exporting destination for Iranian products, noting that in the past three months Iran’s bitumen exports to India have declined by 100,000 tons per month and it has dropped from 430,000 tons to 330,000 tons.

Hosseini reiterated that on the whole, the value of Iran’s oil exporting products has increased because of the rise in the international prices.

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Syed Reza Fatemi-Anin said that that he was in charge of the scheme for removing the old and dilapidated cars from the market and he has been in direct tie with auto industry and during his time in charge of the scheme over 225,000 old cars were removed while the figure was 45,000 cars before he took the helm in the scheme.

He reiterated that auto industry is very important and big industry in the country and its issues need to be resolved wisely in a certain span of time of two years. He reiterated that this two-year plan will start next year till the end of the current government and it will be a turning point.

He then pointed to President Seyed Ebrahim Raisi’s visit of the auto-making companies last year and his orders regarding the rise in the amount of the guarantee from two to three years. He added that the President also ordered the carmakers to increase their production by 50% comparing t the preceding year, reiterating that this year the carmakers have planned for producing 1.5m cars by the yearend while they produced less than 900,000 cars last year.

Fatemi-Amin claimed that in recent years even car production in the biggest world carmakers has declined by 20m cars. He added that the ministry manages only 25%, auto production accounts only for 3% of the figure.

He added that since the beginning of the new year till June 8, some 223,000 cars have been delivered while the figure for the same period last year was 170,000 cars and it shows 31% growth in car delivery.

He stressed that all should work to resolve problems of this industry and announced his opposition regarding holding draw for selling cars.

Regarding the imports of cars, he said that the government is preparing a regulation on the imports of cars, reiterating that the government insists on imports of cars with prices lower than $10,000, admitting that some home-made cars are more expensive than importing cars. He warned the domestic carmakers over producing low quality cars and said they should be improved.

Fatemi-Amin refuted some allegations that only Chinese cars will be allowed to be imported and said European cars with prices less than $10,000 are on the list on imports.

He then imported the government’s decision for eliminating the preferential forex rate of 42,000 tomans per dollar and said with this decision, the price of the smuggled home appliances have increased and the domestic-made home appliance sector will benefit it.

He also blamed recent international developments and international rise in prices for the rise of prices in the country, reiterating that the government by halving the tariff on imports has tried to balance the prices and reform them. He reiterated there is coordination between all bodies for controlling and balancing the prices.

Fatemi-Amin also said that the country’s transit revenues have increased by 100% as the country has signed agreements with six neighboring countries on the insurance issue.

He once again reiterated that the country should move in direction of reforming the structures and creating infrastructures for improving the economic condition.

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Today, all medicine used in the treatment of coronavirus are produced by domestic manufacturers, and if we wanted to import all the items, there would be a high exchange rate, he further stated, emphasizing that COVID-19 vaccine development indicates the pharmaceutical industry’s capability.

With the support of the domestic pharmaceutical industry, we were able to reduce the total of preferred currencies and other currencies used in the country from $4.2 billion to $2.84 billion from 2017 to 2020, he emphasized.

Shanehsaz went on to say that the consumption of foreign exchange in raw materials increased by 2 percent, while medicine import decreased by 31 percent in value, IRNA reported on Monday.

In 2018, the National Medical Device Directorate reported that the Iranian medical equipment market was worth $2.5 billion, 30 percent of which belonged to over 1,000 domestic firms.

On a global scale, 56 percent of 500,000 medical equipment items available in the world market have Iranian versions. In pharmaceuticals, around 70 percent of Iran’s $4.5 billion markets are domestic products and, in 2018, 97 percent of pharmaceuticals consumed in the country were manufactured locally.

In 2018, 67 percent of the active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) used to produce drugs in Iran were made locally.

A total of 227 knowledge-based firms are supplying medical equipment for health centers across the country, according to the Vice Presidency for Science and Technology.

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Speaking to ILNA, Sadeq Hassani said that in the past years and with fewer number of factories, Iran used to produce some 70,000 tons of tea per year while today with the rise in the number of the factories the tea production does not even reach 30,000 tons per year and currently 50 percent of tea plant farms have been ruined or turned into villas.

He reiterated that drought has not affected the tea production and said Iranian tea farmers almost provide 30 percent of the national tea consumption and considerable amount of the Iranian tea is exported, and if the country stops exporting, it will face problem to meet the domestic needs.

Hassani added that he does not agree exporting tea and stipulated that the country has exported some 10,000 tons of tea for 97 cents per kilo while it has imported 33,437 tons of tear from 24 kilos for $5 per kilo. He noted here a question is raised what the advantage of this export is for the country.

He said if each kilo of Iranian tea is consumed in the country, it will help the national economy and will save $4 per kilo in the current condition. He went on to say that even the tea-rich countries import Iranian tea, adding that Iranian tea has conquered the markets of India, Kenya, Turkey and China. He said Russia, Iraq, Pakistan, Germany, Lebanon, Qatar, the Netherlands, Georgia, Turkmenistan, the UAE and Ukraine are the other tea importers from Iran.

Hassani stated Iran imported some 5,125 tons of tea from India in the first five months of the current year and the country has also imported tea from Sri Lanka, the UAE, Turkey, China, Kenya, Vietnam and Germany, reiterating that Iran is currently importing tea from Germany while there is not even a tea farm in that country.

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“The central bank, in cooperation with the country’s banking system, has provided the foreign currency needed to import Covid-19 vaccines and there is no problem in this regard,” Akbar Komeijani said.

Komeijani stressed that despite all the problems, providing the foreign currency needed for the coronavirus vaccine has been and is one of the priorities of the country’s banking system.

He further noted that the vaccination of all employees of the country’s banks is being carried out vigorously, adding: “The necessary arrangements for injecting the second dose of the vaccine have already been made for next month.”

In late July, Iran received two consignments of Sputnik V and AstraZeneca vaccines supplied by Russia and Japan, respectively.

The first batch of vaccines supplied by Japan had been imported on July 23.

Toshimitsu Motegi, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, announced on July 13 that the Japanese government will donate 2.9 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Iran through the COVAX facility.

Iran has also received two batches of vaccines from the COVAX facility. The first shipment included over 700,000 doses of Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured by South Korean firm SK Bioscience, and the second one consisted of 1,452,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured by Catalent Anagni of Italy.

The Islamic Republic is currently producing vaccines jointly with three countries of Cuba, Russia, and Australia, which may also be released by September, while two homegrown vaccines have so far received the emergency use license.

COVIRAN BAREKAT, the first coronavirus vaccine made by researchers at the Headquarters for Executing the Order of the Imam which was unveiled on December 29, 2020, started to be mass-produced on March 29.

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Imported through consultation conducted by the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS), the vaccines were handed over to the Ministry of Health.

However, the report did not mention the brand of vaccines and their manufacturer.

“Given the current situation, it is very difficult to purchase a vaccine. However, the Red Crescent Society has made special efforts to provide the vaccine,” IRCS spokesman Mohammad Qousian said.

In less than a month, the Society has managed to import 1.4 million doses of approved vaccines into the country and provide them to the Ministry of Health, he added.

Earlier, four types of vaccines, including Sputnik V from Russia, COVAXIN from India, AstraZeneca Oxford from Russia, and AstraZeneca Oxford from South Korea, received emergency licenses in the country. Currently, five vaccines have so far received emergency use permits.

Mass vaccination against COVID-19 started on Iranian citizens with the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine on February 9.

While Iran continues efforts to mass-produce local candidates, several foreign vaccines have already been imported and others are expected soon.

Domestic vaccines

COVIRAN BAREKAT, the first coronavirus vaccine made by Iranian researchers, started the third phase of the human trial on Sunday by being administrated to 20,000 people.

Developed by researchers at the Headquarters for Executing the Order of the Imam, the vaccine was unveiled on December 29, 2020, and started to be mass-produced on March 29.

Meanwhile, a vaccine developed by the Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute (Razi Cov Pars) is expected to become the second Iranian-made vaccine to be administered among the population in early August; which started the clinical trial on February 27.

Iran has also started human trials of Fakhra vaccine, the third domestically developed COVID-19 vaccine, named after nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh (he was assassinated in late November near Tehran), that was unveiled and started the clinical trial on March 16.

“Osvid-19”, the fourth domestic vaccine produced by Osvah Pharmaceutical Company is also undergoing human trials, which will also be available in early September.

 New cases and mortalities

In a press briefing on Sunday, Health Ministry’s spokesperson, Sima-Sadat Lari, confirmed 18,698 new cases of COVID-19 infection, raising the total number of infections to 2,534,855. She added that 1,988,165 patients have so far recovered, but 5,443 remain in critical conditions of the disease.

During the past 24 hours, 394 patients have lost their lives, bringing the total number of deaths to 72,484, she added.

So far, 16,101,399 COVID-19 diagnostic tests have been performed in the country.

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