TEHRAN- As announced by a provincial official, 2.649 million tons of commodities valued at $1.436 billion were exported from East Azarbaijan province, in the northwest of Iran, during the first 11 months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21, 2022-February 19, 2023).

Leili Orangi, an official with the province’s customs department, said that the 11-month export rose four percent in weight, while fell three percent in worth, year on year.

She named all kinds of steel products such as rebars, sheets, pipes, plastic materials and objects, chemical products and petrochemical products, dry fruits such as dates, pistachios, raisins, petroleum products such as bitumen, industrial and mineral oils, copper products such as copper wire, cables, piping accessories and fittings, grain products such as wafers and biscuits, glass and glass products, machines and mechanical devices as the major products exported from the province in the said 11-month period, and Turkey, Iraq, Armenia, United Arab Emirates, Republic of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Afghanistan, Bulgaria, Pakistan and Russia as the main export destinations.

The official further announced that 386,000 tons of products valued at $1.207 billion were imported to the province during the first 11 months of this year, with one percent fall in weight, and 17 percent rise in value year on year.

She named machinery and mechanical devices, chemical products, tobacco, plastic materials and objects made of these materials, separate parts of road construction machinery and automobiles, wood and wooden objects, cast iron and steel, electrical machines and devices, and cocoa bean and powder as the main imported items, and Turkey, United Arab Emirates, China, Germany, South Korea, Italy, India, Georgia, Spain and Japan as the major sources of imports.

As previously announced by the official, the value of export from East Azarbaijan rose 16 percent in the past Iranian calendar year (ended on March 20, 2022), from the preceding year.

Orangi said that commodities worth $1.654 billion were exported from the province in the previous year.

In terms of the weight, the exports indicate nine percent annual growth, she added.

The official named carpets and handicrafts, sweets and chocolates, glass and glass products, steel and cast iron, objects made of plastic materials, minerals and stones, nuts, petrochemical products, machinery and mechanical devices, components and parts, leather and shoes as the major exported items, and Turkey, Iraq, Armenia, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Georgia, Bulgaria, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Italy as the main export destinations.

As announced by the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA), the value of Iran’s non-oil exports rose 12.22 percent during the first 11 months of the current Iranian calendar year, as compared to the same period of time in the past year.

According to Mohammad Rezvani-Far, Iran exported about 111.3 million tons of non-oil goods valued at $48.8 billion in the mentioned 11 months, registering a 1.16-percent decline in weight.

Liquefied natural gas was the main exported product in the said time span, accounting for 13.97 percent of the total value of the exports, the IRICA head said.

Major export destinations of the Iranian non-oil goods were China, Iraq, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and India, according to the official.

The average value of each ton of exported goods has increased from $386 in the first 11 months of last year to $439 in the current year’s same period, which indicates a growth of 13.54 percent.

Meanwhile, the Islamic Republic imported 33.6 million tons of non-oil commodities worth $53.7 billion in the first 11 months of the present year, with a 15.28 percent growth in value and an 8.61 percent decrease in weight, year on year.

The IRICA head noted that the import of basic goods in the 11 months of this year has reached 22.6 million tons worth $17.8 billion, indicating a 6.33-percent growth in value and a 16.42-percent decrease in weight, year on year.

Corn, rice, soybeans, wheat, sunflower oil, barley, and soybean meal were among the items imported into the country in the said period, according to Rezvani-Far.

The United Arab Emirates was the top exporter to Iran in the mentioned 11 months, followed by China, Turkey, India, and Germany.

MA/MA