TEHRAN – The value of export from Mazandaran province, in the north of Iran, rose 34 percent in the first four months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-July 22), as compared to the same period of time in the past year, a provincial official announced.

Hassan Khayerianpour, the deputy governor-general of the province for economic affairs, said that commodities worth $300 million were exported from the province in the said four-month period, while the weight of exported goods also rose 19 percent.

The official named dairy products, cement, mineral products, paper, aquatic feed, and fishery products as the major items exported from the province during the first four months of the present year.

He listed Iraq, Turkey, the UAE, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan among Mazandaran's export target countries and said: "Increasing the number of export destinations is seriously on the order."

As previously announced by Hossein-Qoli Qavanlou, the head of the province’s Industry, Mining and Trade Department, the value of export from Mazandaran province rose 55 percent in the past Iranian calendar year 1400 (ended on March 20), from its preceding year.

He said that commodities worth $277 million were exported from the province in the previous year.

In terms of the weight, the exports also indicate 44 percent annual growth, he added.

The official further named cement, minerals, dairy products, plastic, and kiwi as the main exported products, and Iraq, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, the United Arab Emirates, and India as the major export destinations.

According to the data released by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA), the value of Iran’s non-oil exports reached $17.24 billion in the first four months of the current Iranian calendar year, up 22 percent compared to the last year’s same period.

Based on the mentioned data, Iran exported 35.656 million tons of non-oil commodities in the mentioned four months, IRIB reported.

Meanwhile, some 11.159 million tons of goods valued at $17.24 billion were imported into the country in the said period, indicating a 17-percent rise in terms of value compared to the last year’s same time span.

In total, the Islamic Republic traded about 46.815 million tons of non-oil goods worth $34.48 billion with its trade partners in the first four months of the current Iranian calendar year, up 19 percent in terms of value, the IRICA data showed.

Iran's top export destination during this period was China with $5.617 billion worth of imports from the Islamic Republic, followed by Iraq with $2.398 billion, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with over $2.264 billion, Turkey with $2.06 billion, and India with $567 million.

Liquid propane, methanol, liquefied natural gas, urea, liquid butane, polyethylene, bitumen, light petroleum oils, iron and steel ingots, and light oil products were among the top exported items in the said four months.

Meanwhile, the country’s top five sources of imports during these four months were the UAE with $4.875 billion, China with $4.422 billion, Turkey with $1.787 billion, India with $859 million, and Russia with $599 million worth of imports.

MA/MA