Mining tech firm Outotec to pull out of Iran

HELSINKI, Sept 24 (Reuters) – Finnish mining technology company Outotec will pull out of Iran due to the new U.S. sanctions, a company spokeswoman said on Monday.

Outotec, which builds plants, makes equipment and offers services for the metal and mineral processing industries, has a long history in Iran and it remained in the market after the United States instituted sanctions against Iran in 2010.

Its business started to normalise after the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, helping Outotec to book orders from National Iranian Copper Industries Company (NICICO) and Iran International Engineering Company (IRITEC).

The latest sanctions against Iran follow U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of the nuclear deal with Tehran. The new sanctions have forced companies across Europe to reconsider their investments there.

Some sanctions against Iran were re-imposed in Aug. 6 and some others will take effect on Nov. 4.

“We comply with all existing sanctions. Our projects in Iran are already in their final phases … and we aim to complete our projects before November 4,” spokeswoman Eila Paatela told Reuters in an email.

Outotec has not disclosed the overall volume of its business in Iran but it said in May that the market did not represent a significant share of its global sales of about 1.2 billion euros ($1.41 billion).

The NICICO order is for two sulphuric acid plants for copper smelters with a value of around 50 million euros. The IRITEC order is for technology worth 45 million euros for an iron plant.

($1 = 0.8500 euros)

(By Anne Kauranen, Editing by Jussi Rosendahl and Jane Merriman)