TEHRAN- The value of non-oil export from Golestan province, in the northeast of Iran, rose 40 percent during the first seven months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-October 22), as compared to the same period of time in the past year, according to a provincial official.

Shahriyar Shahriyari, the director-general of the province’s Customs Department, said that 308,000 tons of non-oil goods worth $169.528 million were exported from the province in the mentioned seven-month period, indicating also 54 percent growth in terms of weight, year on year.

He named Turkmenistan, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Bulgaria, Romania, Russia, Armenia, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, Poland, Tajikistan, Georgia, India, Azerbaijan and UAE as the main destinations of the goods exported from the province.

The official further announced that 43,666 tons of non-oil commodities valued at $90 million were imported to the province in the first seven months of this year, with 202 percent rise in value, and 188 percent growth in weight, as compared to the same period of time in the past year.

As previously announced by the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA), Iran exported 79.5 million tons of non-oil commodities worth $28.3 billion during the first seven months of the current Iranian calendar year.

Mohammad Rezvani-Far said that the 7-month non-oil export indicates 29.32 percent rise in weight, and less than one percent drop in value, year on year.

The official further announced that 20.9 million tons of non-oil goods worth $36 billion were imported to the country during the seven-month period of this year, with 6.21 percent growth in weight, and 12.61 percent rise in value, as compared to the same period of time in the previous year.

Rezvani-Far, who is also the deputy minister of finance and economic affairs, went on to say that the country’s seven-month non-oil trade stands at 100.4 million tons worth $64.4 billion, with 23.71 percent rise in weight, and 6.2 percent increase in value, year on year.

He named liquefied natural gas, liquefied propane and liquefied butane as the main exported goods, and China, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Turkey and India as the main destinations of Iran's non-oil exports during the first seven months of the present year.

The IRICA head also mentioned corn as livestock food, mobile phones and soybeans as the main imported goods and the United Arab Emirates, China, Turkey, Germany and India as the main sources of non-oil imports of Iran in the said seven months.

During this period, the average customs value of each ton of exported goods went from $466 to $357, which shows a decrease of 23.43 percent, according to Rezvani-Far.

It should be mentioned that due to the decrease in global prices of some export goods, including petrochemical products, the country's non-oil export has faced a decrease in value despite the increase in weight.

The official also said that the average customs value of each ton of imported goods was $1,721, which has grown by 6.03 percent compared to $1,624 in the first seven months of the last year.

MA