A South Korean company has won a contract worth $1.46 billion to construct the world's largest desalination plant in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi state-owned Saline Water Conversion Corp notified Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction on winning the contract on Wednesday and said the plant will be launched by January 2014.

Iran has produced more than 16 million tons of petrochemical products in the first five months of the Iranian year (March 21 - August 21, 2010).

Iran exported 7.14 million tons of petrochemicals, worth $4.2 billion, and some 2.8 million tons of the produced petrochemicals were sold in domestic markets, according to a report published on the Oil Ministry's official website SHANA.

A senior official in Iran's Energy Ministry says the country ranks eighth among world countries that have the capability to construct gas power plants.

Iran has successfully managed to develop the advanced technology to build gas power plants and compete with the developed countries in this field, Iranian Deputy Energy Minister Hamid Chitchian said on Tuesday.

The United States plans to strike a 60-billion-dollar arms deal with Saudi Arabia, the largest foreign arms sale by the United States.

The deal adds 30 billion dollar worth of Apache and Black Hawk attack helicopters to a package that already included 84 F-15 fighter jets.

An Iranian Oil Ministry official says the country's natural gas flow to Turkey would be resumed within the next seven days after it halted because of an explosion on August 25.

The overnight blast, allegedly carried out by the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), forced Turkish authorities to shut down the conduit in the country's eastern province of Agri, which borders Iran.

Iran plans to pump more crude from three oil fields shared with Oman, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia in the Persian Gulf, an Iranian energy official says.

The oil-rich country is scheduled to increase its oil production of the fields by 30,000 barrels per day or 20 percent, Mahmoud Zirakchianzadeh, managing director of Iran's Offshore Oil Company (IOOC), told Mehr news agency on Sunday.

Iran and China are to finalize a deal in the coming days on the latter's corporate investment in Iranian petrochemical projects.

The National Iranian Petrochemical Company (NIPC) and a Chinese consortium are completing talks on an agreement under which the Chinese side is to funnel some $1 billion into petrochemical projects in Iran, reported the Mehr News Agency.

The volume of securities traded on Tehran Stock Exchange has marked a sharp growth despite the market depression in other parts of the Middle East.

According to a report published by The Financial Times newspaper on Wednesday, Tehran bourse has climbed 53 percent so far this year, compared to last year, and already enjoys a record market capitalization of $81 billion across about 350 companies. The stock market managed to climb 29 percent in 2009.

Iran's gasoline production will soon be increased by 20 million liters, making the country self-sufficient despite sanctions, the Iranian oil minister has said.

"With this increase in production, Iran will not be in need of further gasoline imports”, Fars News Agency quoted Masoud Mir-Kazemi as saying after a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

Iran has officially begun pumping crude oil from the Hengam oilfield shared with neighboring Oman in the Persian Gulf, after a $400mn two-year development.

“The field is to produce ten thousand barrels a day of the finest and lightest of Iranian crude in the first phase, but its production level will reach 16 thousand barrels in two months,” IRNA quoted Iranian Oil Minister Massoud Mirkazemi as saying on Tuesday.

Crude oil production from Iran's Hengam oil field in the Persian Gulf begins on August 24, Head of Iranian Offshore Oil Company (IOOC) Mahmud Zirakchianzadeh says.

"Test production from the oil field began in April with a production of 4,000 barrels per day," Zirakchianzadeh said on Monday.

Ten foreign investors have poured 5.1 billion dollars into Iran's petrochemical industry, the head of the National Iranian Petrochemical Company (NIPC) says.

"The NIPC has set up a firm in the United Kingdom to attract foreign investors and finance [petrochemical projects]," Abdolhossein Bayat said on Monday.

A majority of foreign companies believe it is still too dangerous to do business in Iraq seven years after the US-led invasion, a new survey says.

The poll conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) found that violence was the biggest business risk for 67 percent of respondents, AFP reported.

Authorities at major Swedish firm Oriflame Cosmetics are furious over Iran shutting down its pyramidal network in the country.

While reacting to the closure of its centers in Iran, Oriflame has expressed hope it will be able to continue selling its products in the Iranian market, reported Fars News Agency.

Iran says it is ready to hold a meeting with the economy ministers of Syria, Iraq and Turkey to discuss setting up an economic bloc in the region.

Iran's Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Shamseddin Hosseni made the remarks in a meeting with Syrian Economy and Trade Minister Lamia Assi in Tehran on Saturday.

Iran has exported more than 637 million dollars of cement during the past Iranian calendar (ended March 20), says the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance.

Iraq, the Persian Gulf littoral states, the Central Asian countries and Afghanistan were the major destinations for Iran's cement, the ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

Trade exchanges between Iran and the world's major powers have seen a 13.78% rise in the first four months of the Iranian calendar year, despite the sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic.

From March 21 to July 22, the volume of trade between Iran and the P5+1 states — the permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany — has risen to $6.1 billion, while in the same period last year, trade stood at $5.4 billion, the Fars news agency reported on Saturday.

The Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE), home of the world's second-best performing equity index, continues to break its previous records by witnessing steady growth.

The TSE is Iran's largest stock exchange, which first opened in April 1968.

Iran has exported more that $1.189 billion worth of chemical products in the first three months of the current Iranian year, which started March 21.

Iran's Ministry of Industries and Mines said in a report on Wednesday that the country exported items including organic chemicals, fertilizers, detergents, waxes and medicines, IRNA reported.

Iran will become self-sufficient in the production of light airplane engines by the year's end, head of Iran Air Industries Organization says.

"Iran has great potential in the production of small aircraft engines [and] can even manufacture customized engines suitable for both domestic and international use," IRIB reported Manouchehr Manteqi, director of the country's Air Industries Organization, as saying on Thursday.

A report by the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers places Iran on the list of top-five global car producers with the most growth in 2009.

Iran's car production showed a 9.5 percent growth last year, ranking fifth on the OICA chart after China, Taiwan, Romania and India.

Esfahan Steel Company's production has increased significantly and is expected that by March next year the company would produce over 2.750 million tons of steel products.

Managing Director of Esfahan Steel Company Safarali Barati told IRNA on Tuesday that the company will produce around 3 million tons of different steel products such as iron beams and round bars.

]]> syria-welcome@googlegroups.com (PressTV) Middle East Mon, 16 Aug 2010 06:30:00 +0000 http://www.rebelnews.org/business/middle-east/360174-irans-q1-mineral-exports-reach-16bn http://www.rebelnews.org/business/middle-east/360174-irans-q1-mineral-exports-reach-16bn Iran's Ministry of Industries and Mines says the country's mineral exports reached $1.597 billion in the first three months of the current Iranian year (started March 21).

According to the ministry's website, the figure shows a 19.26 percent increase compared to the same period of last year.