According to the Iranian Financial Tribune, a recent report by the national Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade, announced plans to increase the production capacity of home appliances sector.
It seems, in fact, that local industry is currently use a little percentage of its real capacity in many segments, due to low domestic demand and limited exports but also, according to the ministry’s report, to the outdated production machinery and equipment, high production costs, lack of research and development, the multitude of domestic producers and inadequate after-sales services.
So now it is planned that TV production capacity be increased by 1.5 million from the current 4 million units per year. In this sector yearly production is equal to 1.11 million units, with only 30% of nominal capacity utilized. The same problem concerns also many White Goods segments, such as refrigerator, washing machine and evaporative cooler, that are using respectively 11%, 9% and 18% of their operating capacity, according to Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture’s monthly publication Ayandenegar. On the contrary, the Iranian market imports many appliances from the other countries, being the world’s 17th largest importer of washing machines, the 23rd largest importer of refrigerators and the 28th largest importer of TVs. South Korea and the UAE are the biggest exporters of home appliances to Iran.
