The House of Representatives Committee on Economy, Industry and Trade has disclosed that Iraq has a strategic reserve of sulfur, estimated at 350 million tons.
Yasser Al-Husseini, the committee’s rapporteur, stated that Iraq possesses a strategic reserve of raw materials that are not available in other countries. These materials include sulfur, phosphate, and silica, which are almost exclusively found in Iraq. He noted that these minerals could be utilized as the country’s second resource after oil by investing in them through reputable companies that specialize in this field. This was reported in the official Al-Sabah newspaper.
He stated that the government’s resources should be controlled solely by the nation. Therefore, he suggested that the contracts for the Ministry of Industry and the Border Ports Authority, which are important resources for the country, need to be reviewed. He indicated that investment projects are limiting the state’s resources instead of enhancing them in a meaningful way.
Al-Husseini emphasized the importance of the government giving attention to the issue of migration from countryside to cities and to the agricultural sector. He suggested benefiting from every drop of water from the time it enters Iraq until it reaches the root. He warned against demographic changes that may cost the government more than the current amounts it provides to care for rural areas. He explained that supporting agriculture will have positive effects on the stability of the local market, reduce imports from other countries, and decrease unemployment.
Iraq confirmed in 2022 that the Mishraq fields south of Mosul contain the world’s first sedimentary sulfur reserve, which exceeds 400 million tons.
