The 12th Iran LIFTEX (Elevators, Industrial & Related Equipment Exhibition) was held July 14-17 at the Tehran International Exhibition Center.
Ranking among the top 10 countries in annual new installations, Iran has an increasing number of local manufacturers of equipment for lifts and escalators. Visitors will often see new companies at fairs considering the number of manufacturers in the country with a growth trend. The fact that international OEMs especially do not take place in this market — the European component manufacturers do not sell products directly to Iran due to the sanctions, and importing has become difficult with the Iran government introducing import restrictions to protect the domestic market — has resulted in a critical increase in the numbers of domestic manufacturers.
At the fair organized by the Iran Chamber of Cooperatives (ICC) Exhibition Affairs, highlights included the extraordinary and elegant passenger cars, giant goods lifts and various hydraulic lift designs. Escalator manufacturing, which started approximately five years ago with Behran Lift, the biggest machine manufacturer, was among the most interesting subjects with the increase in the number of manufacturers thanks to the participation of new companies. Although it is not possible to reach healthy numbers of new installations in Iran, the numbers provided by the machine manufacturers (excluding export) helped your author to have an idea about the size of the domestic market. According to the given manufacturing figures, the numbers of newly installed lifts on an annual basis correspond to 30,000 approximately.
1,200 Escalators Manufactured Annually
Bahman Abdollahi, president of the ICC, spoke to the journalists at the opening ceremony of the exhibition and stated that 95% of the parts and equipment needed in the Iran lift industry are manufactured by the companies in Iran. He also said that he hopes that the remaining 5% will be manufactured nationally in the next two or three years. Stating that lift and escalator equipment made in Iran is exported to more than 15 countries, Abdullahi said: “More than 140 national companies and 15 foreign companies from seven countries attended this exhibition.” He stated that “around 1,200 escalators are manufactured annually and less than 1,000 of these are used domestically while the remaining (more than 200) are exported.”
Different Price Policy for Foreign Companies and Products
The manufacturers that opened booths at the fair — those in the fields of lifts, escalators, conveyor systems, trussed platforms, moving sidewalks and the relevant services — showcased their new products. In order to support the domestic market, a different pricing policy is followed for the domestic and foreign companies when leasing booths at the Iran fair. Therefore, there was no foreign company that directly came from abroad (there used to be around 15-20 companies from Türkiye and China), but the domestic companies had to pay high rental fees for exhibiting foreign products at a different corner.
Replica Products Mounting Up
Due to the international sanctions, it is possible to see replica products of various international brands since the copyright is not considered significant in Iran. Replicas or counterpart products, such as control panels, machinery and security components and especially door operators of several brands, are available. It is not even surprising to see that some of the companies use the brand directly. I have seen that articles and news from our own publication group, ELEVATOR WORLD, are used without permission.
Thousands of Visitors Despite the Warm Weather
Although the fair was organized in July at six halls of the Tehran International Exhibition Center and the warm weather was above the seasonal norms, there were thousands of visitors. Halls were air-conditioned and cool, but the warm weather and the sun took effect immediately when going outside to move between the halls. This was especially difficult for companies that opened booths outside. There were mainly foreign visitors from neighboring countries: Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and Türkiye as well as some European manufacturers. Visitors were quite pleased with the hospitality and interest of the companies of Iran.
Although Iran LIFTEX is organized annually, the dates are determined three to months months beforehand. Therefore, the date of the next exhibition in 2024 is not yet specified.
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