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 The Deputy Head of Bosch Auto Spare Parts Company Christopher Denville as saying, "Currently, Bosch is cooperating with 55 firms in Iran and seeks to expand its activities in the region."

He said that Bosch has been cooperating with its Iranian partners for many years, recalling, "The first Bosch representative office was opened in Iran in 1924 and the first contract with Iranian automotive maker was signed in 1971."

The senior manager said that the company was forced to leave Iran in 2006 due to the sanctions against the country, but in the year following the implementation of nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Bosch returned to Iran and established a new firm named Bosch Tejarat Pars.

In relevant remarks in January, German Ambassador to Tehran Michael Klor-Berchtold voiced his country's eagerness to broaden bilateral ties with Iran in the trade sector.

"Germany likes to develop dynamic relations with Iran in economic fields," Klor-Berchtold said.

"We are ready to utilize all potentials in Iran's northwestern province (of East Azarbaijan) to bolster bilateral ties in all fields, including the pharmaceutical and auto manufacturing sectors," German envoy added.

He reiterated that his country maintains dynamic and flexible ties with Iran.

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With the going on stream of this phase, 8 million liters of Euro-5 diesel will be added to the country's fuel production basket, said Alireza Sadeq-Abadi, a deputy oil .minister, at a ceremony to inaugurate the distillation units of the second phase of the Persian Gulf Star Refinery on Wednesday

He recalled that in February last year, Iran's average daily gasoline output stood at 60 million liters per day, adding the figure currently amounts to 78 million liters per day, narrowing the gap between consumption and production of the product.

Sadeq-Abadi noted that the once operational, the Persian Gulf Star Refinery will be able to produce 36 million liters of Euro-5 gasoline per day, which is unique in the world.

Expressing hope that the third phase of the refinery would be launched as soon as possible, he said that environmental achievements of the project to construct the Persian Gulf Star Refinery would be of utmost importance.

The deputy oil minister further said the isomerization unit of Bandar Abbas Refinery in Hormuzgan Province will begin production by mid-March 2018, adding following its launch, the unit will improve the quality of 12 million liters of the refinery's gasoline output.

Sadeq-Abadi added that after the completion of the construction of a hydrotreating unit in the year to mid-March 2019, the refinery will be capable of producing 12 million liters of Euro-4 gasoil.

Hormuzgan Province currently accounts for 40 percent of the country's total gasoline production given the output of Bandar Abbas and Persian Gulf Star refineries.

Being the biggest gas condensates refinery in the Middle East, the Persian Gulf Star Refinery with a daily output of 360,000 barrels per day is under construction in three 120,000-barrel phases in an area of 730 hectares.

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NISOC's Director for Technical Affairs Hamid Deris said his company has so far signed five memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with several companies to develop the field of which three have so far put forward their proposed development plans.

He said a master development plan is being drawn up based on the proposed plans submitted by candidate developers for the project.

NISOC and Zarubezhneft signed an MoU in July for the latter to implement the project to develop Iran's Shadegan Oilfield which is located in Khuzestan Province.

It was discovered in 1968 and the production began following the installation of production facilities in 1988. The field is 23km in length 6km in width and includes two Asmari and Bangestan reserves and currently has 20 active wells with oil production standing at about 69,000 barrels per day (11,000 m3/d).

JSC Zarubezhneft is a Russian state-controlled oil company based in Moscow that specializes in exploration, development and operation of oil and gas fields outside Russian territory. Sergey Kudryashov is the company's director general and Nikolay Tokarev is the chairman of the board.

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At least eight members of the EU maintained their rankings among the top 20 exporters of goods to Iran during the period.

Germany's exports to Iran registered a 20-percent growth year-on-year, according to the latest figures released by the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran.

Germany had a 5.5-percent share of Iran's overall imports in terms of value during the eight-month period. However the volume of its exports to Iran amounted to 529,000 tons which is 29 percent less year-on-year, indicating that the European country has exported more valuable goods to Iran during the period.

Besides Germany, Switzerland ($1.121 million, a 10-percent increase), France ($970 million, a 45-percent increase), Italy ($863 million, a 28 percent-increase), the Netherlands ($723 million, a 16-percent increase), the UK($585 million, a 61-percent increase), Belgium($377 million, an 82-percent increase) and Sweden($327 million, an 80-percent increase) were the European countries that ranked among the top exporters of goods to Iran in ‎the mentioned period.‎

EU exports to Iran plummeted to €7.3 billion in 2012, down from highs of €11.3 billion in 2006.

Under the sanctions, the Islamic Republic shifted its trade eastward and expanded economic ties with countries such as China and India as well as Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, which took the advantage of the sanctions, and acted as re‎exporting intermediary to Iran.

During the eight months to November 21, Iran purchased 61.3 percent of its imported goods from five countries — China, the UAE, South Korea, Turkey and Germany.

China was the main exporter of goods to Iran in the mentioned period. Its exports made up 24.5 percent of Iran's total imports in terms of value. During the eight-month period, Iran imported goods valued at $7.95 billion from China, indicating a 22-percent increase year-on-year.

Iran also imported goods worth $5.749 billion from the UAE (a 23-percent increase), accounting for 17.7 percent of Iran's total imports in terms of value.

Turkey exported goods worth $2.221 billion to Iran during the period which is 26 percent more year-on-year.

South Korea and India exported goods worth $2.162 billion and $1.547 billion to Iran, respectively.

Imports from India registered an increase of 18 percent, meanwhile South Korean exports to Iran did not register any change compared to the figures for the preceding year.

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The willingness was signaled at the fourth Iran-Austria Joint Energy Committee held in the central city of Isfahan where the Austrian delegation voiced their country's keenness to join university activities in oil and gas industry of Iran.

The event was held in line with the Iran-Austria economic cooperation roadmap for a five-year period (2016-20).

Along with the Austrian ambassador to Tehran, representatives from companies like BMWFW, RAG, ILF, VOWC and OMV attended the event.

Also from Iran, such companies as the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), the Iranian Central Oil Fields Company, National Petrochemical Company (NPC), Fuel Conservation Optimization Company, the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC), and the Iranian Ministry of Energy were represented.

Austria has been working with Iran in such areas as energy efficiency, renewable energies (photovoltaic), banking cooperation, and oil and gas projects.

Moreover, a $1-billion credit line has been defined, indicating a good level of bilateral economic relations between the two countries.

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"Chabahar is likely to enhance Iran’s role as a transit hub for Central Asia, particularly for receiving goods coming from India," said Dorsey.

Chabahar’s Shahid Behehshti port was also expected to have an influence on trade relations of Central Asia countries, in particular Kazakhstan, with China, since it became an alternate route of transportation from India to Central Asia, however Dorsey believes there will be no negative outcome from new opportunities that Chabahar will bring to Central Asia.

The first phase of Shahid Behehshti Port in Chabahar was inaugurated during a ceremony attended by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and representatives from 17 countries on December 3.

The strategic port, located in southeastern province of Sistan and Balouchestan, is expected to link trade corridors from India to Afghanistan, Central Asian countries and Russia.

The trade corridors that pass through Chabahar will be connected to the Indian Ocean. Chabahar is capable of reducing transportation costs to Central Asia and Afghanistan and its capacity is expected to reach 8.5 million tons in the first phase.

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In a meeting in The Hague, Iran’s Deputy Economy Minister Mohammad Khazaei and his Dutch counterpart signed the contract, which entails cooperation in eleven main fields

within the framework of an economic roadmap the two countries have already reached.

According to the document, the Iranian and Dutch companies would enhance cooperation in areas relating to the energy industry, water management, agriculture, shipping industry, commercial and banking ties, technology and innovation, airport development and some other fields.

Tehran and Amsterdam have ramped up efforts to broaden trade ties after coming into forces of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a nuclear agreement between Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany), in January 2016.

Iran’s economic officials complain about the persistence of obstacles to banking interaction with the other countries, saying the JCPOA was supposed to fully facilitate the country’s international trade.

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The cement industry witnessed a decline in performance as the industrial material's output during March 21-August 22 dropped 2.6 percent year-on-year. 

Iran's cement output reached 23.62 million tons during the five-month period, compared to 24.25 million tons for the same period last year.

However, on a monthly basis, 4.9 million tons of cement were produced during July 23-Aug. 22, 2017, which was 9.9 percent more than the figure for the preceding month.

Iran's cement production capacity soared from 29.5 million tons in 2001 to 83 million tons in 2017. The number of cement producing factories also increased from 30 to 74 in the same time span.

The cement industry has over the past several years seen fluctuations, soaring at times and spiraling downwards at others. While the Islamic Republic was boosting its cement production capacity, establishing more factories, the market both within the country and overseas was facing stagnation.

Iran's cement production in 2015 shrank by one percent to 58.6 million tons, following a 33-percent fall in 2014, which was blamed on low domestic consumption.

Iran's cement production over the past years has faced various challenges, including deep recession in construction activities as well as an inadequate provision of natural gas to industrial users.

In the meantime, due to global slump in oil prices and regional issues, Iran's cement export to neighboring countries has witnessed a considerable decline as well.

While the country ranked first in the Middle East and fourth in the world in terms of cement production in 2014 with an output of 75 million tons, its global ranking fell to sixth in 2016. Iran also lost its 2014 position as the second cement exporter in the world. The Islamic Republic was the third cement exporter in the world in 2016 and is predicted to stand eighth among top cement exporters in 2018.

Iran produced 54.1 million tons of cement in the year to March 20, which was 6.6-percent less year-on-year.

Amid these conditions, the Iranian administration plans to increase annual cement output capacity to 120 million tons by 2025.

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This was announced by Director for Production Control of National Petrochemical Company (NPC) Ali Mohammad Bosaqzadeh on Saturday.

On exports of petrochemical products during the six months, Bosaqzadeh said that exports increased 12 percent in terms of weight and eight percent in terms of value against the figures for the preceding year.

He further said that 15,000 tons of polyethylene were exported to the Far East in one year while exports to African countries also witnessed a growth during the period.

Iran's annual petrochemical production capacity currently stands at 62 million tons, said Bosaqzadeh adding that the figure is expected to rise to over 70 million tons by March.

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