Iran Says It's Still Leading World Carpet Market

Tehran, Iran, Aug. 25, 2008--Commerce Minister Masood Mir-Kazemi said Friday that Iran is still leading the world carpet market despite slowdown in the supply.

Mir-Kazemi told the 17th Iran Hand-Woven Carpet Exhibition that 515 million square meters of carpet are woven annually in Iran, more than two thirds of the whole being for exports.

He said the reason for the market slump is change in consumption patterns.

He added that hand-woven carpet exports are now $1.4 billion now.

He said Iran's carpet industry has markets in the U.S., Canada, Germany, the UAE, Italy, Japan and Switzerland, while such countries as India, Pakistan, China, Nepal and Turkey compete with it in the business.