Armenia boosts domestic metal industry

Armenian Economy Minister Gevorg Papoyan praised recent developments in the country’s domestic metal industry.

Speaking at a press briefing, he said that Armenia is gradually transforming from a country that imports radiators into one that also produces and exports such products.

According to the Minister, for many years the Armenian market was mainly supplied with radiators imported from Turkey and China. Citizens with higher incomes tended to buy products from Italy and Spain.

“Until this year, there was no domestic production of radiators in Armenia. For decades, we were entirely an importing country,” Papoyan noted.

He explained that the recent change is linked to the development of the metal industry. The Minister recalled that in the 1990s and 2000s, many industrial capacities were privatized but never put into operation, and their equipment was exported as scrap metal.

“Armenia was, for a long time, a country that exported scrap metal. Later, even car frames were exported, until this process was banned by law,” the Minister said.

According to Papoyan, as a result of these restrictions, metal raw materials began to be used locally for production purposes. The Minister noted that today, Armenia not only imports radiators but also produces and exports them, and manufactures various metal structures and rolled products.

“Among these products, radiators—made from aluminum—are those with relatively high added value. Whereas in the past aluminum was collected and exported as raw material, today it is used in local production,” he emphasized.

The Minister noted again that Armenian-made radiators are now available on the domestic market alongside products from Türkiye, China, Italy, and Spain, and that some are already being exported.

“We have partly transformed from a radiator-importing country into one that also produces and exports such products, which is very important,” Papoyan concluded.