Feasibility Study of Construction of Date Processing Factory
Abstract:
Iran, with best conditions for cultivating dates, owns the second place in the world regarding
the area under palm cultivation. Iran holds the first place in terms of export amount with
34.1% and the second place in terms of export value with 12.8%.
Dates in addition to the nutritional role and income source for the southern provinces of the
country are considered as a major product of non-oil exports of the country. Date is a
nutritious fruit that is also widely used in the industry due to its significant sugar amount.
Various date consumption in industry contains date nectar (date honey), liquid sugar, palm
vinegar, alcohol, soda extract, solid and liquid palm, chocolate date breakfast, plain and
flavored date chips, sauce, paste, pickles, compote, marmalade, jams and livestock feeds.
Also its core can be used to produce carbon-active oil, Surface-Efficient Substances, Palm
Ointment (for eyelash growth) and the waste products are used for feeding animal and birds
and its leaves are used to make various dishes and mats. Palm trunk and its wood is used in
particle board and paper manufacturing, as well as coverage material for building
construction and bridges. Every year, a huge part of produced date which is not suitable for
fresh consumption, is wasted in different ways and the main reason for this, is the small
number of industrial units manufacturing date palm products and this problem causes loss of
employment opportunities, and loss of proper money saving ability and lowers economic
revenues.
Chabahar Free Zone, the only Free Zone neighboring with Indian Ocean and Indian
subcontinent markets which is located in International Indian corridor that links Russia and
central Asian countries and Afghanistan to free waters, is a great place for investment, trade
and transit goods between mentioned countries.
Utilization of marine and fisheries resources like seaweed has become one of most important
potentials for economic development in upstream and downstream sections. Also, utilization
of renewable energies such as wind, solar and sea wave can help to provide required energy
for several industries, agricultural activities, utilization of mineral materials, processing metal
and non-metal materials and steel, Negin Petrochemical Complex, the completion of
transportation infrastructure and energy resources are among the important facilities to absorb
foreign investors.
Products transportation, regional trade, loading and unloading heavy products and
transporting goods to countries like Oman, India, Pakistan and central Asian countries are
investment opportunities in Chabahar Free Zone.
Besides, incentive rules such as 20-year tax exemption on legal and real person’s income, tax
exemption from customs duties, moderate terms for importing and exporting goods, and free
inflow and outflow of capital have made great potentials for investment in this region.
As reports show, due to lack of industrial and processing units, huge volume of date products
cannot be distributed into market which shows low economic growth and low occupation rate
in the region.
Advantages of Construction of Date Processing Factory in Chabahar Free Zone:
Sistan and Baluchistan province is one of major areas of date production in the country and
due to lack of industrial units with the sufficient technology for the side products it has low
economic revenues in this area. Last year, more than one billion and 500 million Rials were
earned from processed date productions. In relation to development plans of the government,
it is assumed that food demands of the country will increase by 40 percent which is one of the
advantages of investment in this field.
On the other hand, the consumption of dates and date products has increased to 5 kg from 3
kg per capita (per year) in the last 5 years which indicates an increase in the tendency to use
dates and replace synthetic sugar with date products. This is while the date consumption in
Arab countries and Persian Gulf states is about 12 kg per capita in a year.
The proximity of the date-producing regions to Chabahar port, declining unemployment,
investment and government support from deprived areas, government’s production support to
increase export rate, as well as people willingness to replace sugar with date products and the
increase of date consumption are all considered as comparative advantages for the
construction of a date processing plant in this region.
Advantages of Investment in Chabahar free zone:
- Strategic geographic location alongside the international water routes and proximity
to international shipping lines
- The only Iranian commercial port outside the Strait of Hormuz
- The Eastern Iranian Corridor Connected to high seas
- The nearest port to the Central Asia and Afghanistan market
- Easy access to fossil fuels
- Easy access to building materials
- Easy access to various minerals in the east of Iran
- Multimodal transport through air, land and sea
- Long-term lease and sale facilities for foreign investors
- Being at the safest and most immediate route to world markets
- The proximity to the developing populated countries in South Asia (India and
Pakistan)
- Located in the only Iranian oceanic harbor (Chabahar) (with access to the mainland of
Iran)
- Proximity to the world's largest energy resources in the Persian Gulf
Chabahar free zone, as a link between Iran and Oman Sea, is one the most important
waterways in the world. Access to high seas and international ports has made Chabahar free
zone a geographically convenient location to transit goods to CIS countries. Low storage
costs and port services for containers and commercial goods and ability for mooring big ships (100 thousand tons) have made this region economically important and suitable for
investment.
The purpose of the project is to build dough and date palm plant with a capacity of one ton
per hour and 2,500 tons per year. From the beginning of 2019, it will start with 30 employees
and 70% practical capacity with a 12-hour shift in a day and 300 working days in a year. By
2022, it will reach 100% of the practical capacity
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