TEHRAN- The value of non-oil exports from Ardebil province in the northwest of Iran increased by 54 percent during the first six months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-September 21), as compared to the same period of time in the past year, a provincial official announced.

Yasoub Nejad-Mohammad, the head of the province’s Finance and Economic Affairs Department, said that 157,000 tons of non-oil goods worth $80 million were exported from the province in the six-month period, indicating also 42 percent rise in terms of weight year on year.

He also announced that 15,000 tons of non-oil commodities valued at $105 million were imported to the province in the first half of the present year, with 73 percent growth in value and 57 percent rise in weight, year on year.

As previously announced by the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA), the value of Iran’s non-oil exports increased by 6.5 percent during the first six months of the current Iranian calendar year, as compared to the same period of time in the past year.

Mohammad Rezvanifar said that the country exported 70 million tons of non-oil products valued at $25.8 billion during the first half of this year, also indicating 3.5 percent growth in terms of weight, year on year.

According to the IRICA head, Iran also exported $23.2 billion of oil and $600 million of technical and engineering services during the mentioned period, boosting the country's total exports to $49.6 billion.

During this period, the imports reached $32.6 billion, including $2.5 billion of gold bullion.

Stating that the country's total trade exchange during the first half of the current year was $82.2 billion, he added: “During this period, the trade balance of the country without oil and technical and engineering services was 6.8 billion dollars negative, and taking into account oil and technical and engineering services, it was 17 billion dollars positive.”

“The average value per ton of export goods increased by three percent to $366 in the first six months of this year,” he noted.

China with $7.2 billion, Iraq with $5.2 billion, United Arab Emirates with $3.4 billion, Turkey with $2.4 billion, Afghanistan with $1.1 billion, Pakistan with $1.0 billion, and India with $900 million were the main export destinations of Iranian goods during the mentioned period.

These seven countries accounted for 81 percent of the weight and 82 percent of the total value of Iran’s exports, according to Rezvanifar.

The UAE with $10 billion, China with $8.5 billion, Turkey with $5.1 billion, Germany with $1.2 billion, the Russian Federation and India with $800 million each, and Hong Kong with $600 million were also the top sources of imports for Iran in the first half of the current year.

China, UAE, and Turkey were Iran’s top trading partners in the mentioned six months, Rezvanifar said.

The official has also announced that the value of Iran’s foreign trade including oil and technical engineering services reached $153.17.8 billion in the last Iranian calendar year 1402 (ended on March 19).

According to Mohammad Rezvanifar, the value of the Islamic Republic’s trade with the partners in the previous year increased by 2.6 percent compared to the same period last year.

The official put the country’s non-oil exports, excluding exports of electricity, crude oil, and techno-engineering services, at 136.4 million tons worth $49.33 billion which shows a 9.82 percent rise in terms of tonnage and an 8.87 percent decline in terms of value.

Iran exported $35.87 billion of crude oil, $370 million of electricity, and $1.293 billion of technical engineering services in the mentioned year, according to Rezvanifar.

According to him, during this period, 48.8 million tons of petrochemical products worth $19.4 billion were also exported, which shows a decrease of 11.32 percent and 28.59 percent in terms of weight and value, respectively.

During this period, liquefied natural gas with $3.9 billion, liquefied propane with $3.62 billion, and bitumen-oil with $2.19 billion were Iran’s top exported items.

Iran's top export destination during this period was China with $13.915 billion worth of imports from the Islamic Republic, followed by Iraq with $9.215 billion, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with over $6.611 billion, Turkey with $4.16 billion, and India with $2.17 billion.

The official put the average customs value of each ton of exported goods at $362 which has decreased by 17 percent compared to the preceding year.

During this period, 39 million tons of goods worth $66.28 billion were also imported into the country, which shows an increase of 4.39 percent in terms of weight and 77.9 percent in terms of value, he said.

The country’s top five sources of imports in the previous year were the UAE with $20.782 billion, China with $18.545 billion, Turkey with $7.541 billion, Germany with $2.155 billion, and India with $1.917 billion worth of imports.

Corn, mobile phones, and gold ingots were the top three imported items followed by soybeans, automobile parts, sunflower seeds, and safflower were the five main items imported by the Islamic Republic.

Rezvanifar said the average customs value of each ton of imported goods increased by $5.16 and reached $1,697.

MA