TEHRAN – The value of Iran’s non-oil trade during the first five months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-August 21) reached $24.6 billion, about $5 billion more than the figure for the first four months, IRNA reported.

According to the Head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) Mehdi Mirashrafi, the significant increase in the value of trade indicates that the negative impact of the Covid-19 outbreak on Iran's foreign trade has alleviated.

“The impact of the pandemic on Iran’s trade has decreased from 54 percent in late March to 27 percent in August,” Mirashrafi said.

As reported, in the mentioned five months, Iran imported $13.7 billion worth of goods, while exporting $10.9 billion.

The volume of traded goods was estimated at about 52 million tons, of which over 38 million tons were related to exports and about 13.8 million tons were imported goods.

Iran's top five non-oil export destinations during this period were China with over $3 billion worth of exports, Iraq with $2.406 billion, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with over $1.554 billion, and Afghanistan with $871 million as well as Turkey with $513 million, so the country’s top five export destinations remained the same in comparison to previous months, according to IRICA.

China accounted for over 28 percent of Iran’s total exports, followed by Iraq, UAE, Afghanistan, and Turkey with 22 percent, 14 percent, 8 percent, and 4.7 percent respectively.

According to the IRICA head, polyethylene, natural gas, liquefied propane, and other light oils and products rather than gasoline were Iran's top five exported items during this period, and gasoline was the top export commodity with $1 billion worth of exports.

The top five sources of imports during this period were China with $3.552 billion, the UAE with $3.186 billion, Turkey with $1.475 billion, India with $941 million, and Germany with $548 million worth of imports.

China accounted for nearly 26 percent of Iran’s total imports, followed by UAE, Turkey, India, and Germany with 23 percent, 10.7 percent, 6.8 percent, and 4.8 percent, respectively.

Iran’s non-oil trade stood at $19.635 billion during the first four months of the current fiscal year (March 20-July 21), of which exports accounted for $8.713 billion and imports for $10.922 billion.

Like all other countries around the world, Iran’s trade with its foreign partners has been affected by the coronavirus pandemic, however, the situation is getting back to normal and the country’s trade borders are opening one by one.

EF/MA