The share of Iran’s carpet industry in the world market is 28%
In the years before the victory of the Islamic Revolution, the share of Iran’s carpet industry in world markets was 55%,
which decreased to 28% in the post-victory period.
Engineer Mohammad Reza Kamani, CEO of the Iranian Handmade Carpet Association,
said that the main reason for the decrease in Iran’s share in global markets was the high initial costs, including fees and bank interest, and continued:
In countries such as India and China, carpets or handicrafts are not used. Or it gets two percent interest, but in Iran,
in a two-year process of carpet production, 32 percent interest must be paid.
The CEO of the Iranian Hand-Made Carpet Union added:
The low cost of wages and raw materials and Iran’s political relations with the United States have caused us to leave the market to our competitors.
He noted that in the US markets, Indian, Chinese and Pakistani carpets are exempt from paying duties,
while Iranian exporters have to pay 2.1% of the fees.
Kamali cited the markets of African countries such as Mozambique, South Africa, Nairobi and Australia as new markets facing the carpet industry.
He said that the active absence of Iran’s carpet industry in the markets of Asian countries such as Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Thailand,
Indochina’s proximity to these countries and then Iran’s distance with East Asian countries,
which has made Iranian carpets more expensive in those countries.
Kamali mentioned the reduction of bank interest, investment in carpet exports, establishment of credit system,
establishment and operation of centralized carpet weaving workshops, and amendment of labor and insurance laws as the factors
that are effective in Iran’s carpet industry. Carpet weaving has been closed since 1374.
In the end, the CEO of the Iranian Hand-Made Carpet Union stated:
The Iran-Iraq war has caused severe damage to the Iranian carpet industry due to the decrease in tourist trips and the decrease in the trips
of carpet buyers and other factors.
