TEHRAN - Iran exported 65.5 million tons of non-oil commodities worth $18.2 billion during the first seven months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-October 21), registering a 17.5-percent fall in terms of weight, compared to the figure for the previous year’s same period.

According to the Head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) Mehdi Mirashrafi, the exports of the mentioned commodities declined 23 percent in terms of value, IRIB reported.

The official put the country’s total non-oil trade in the mentioned seven months at $38.3 billion, with a total weight of 85 million tons.

He noted that during the said time span some 19.3 million tons worth $20 billion of goods have been imported into the country, of which 13.8 million tons were basic goods.

Iraq with $4.8 billion, China with $4.4 billion, the UAE with $2.2 billion, Turkey with $1.4 billion, and Afghanistan with $1.3 billion of imports from Iran were among the country’s top export destinations during this period.

Meanwhile, China with $5.1 billion, the UAE with $4.7 billion, Turkey with $2.2 billion, India with $1.2 billion, and Germany with $1 billion of exports to Iran were the top exporting nations to the Islamic Republic, according to Mirashrafi.

The value of Iran’s non-oil trade during the first six half of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-September 21) had reached $30.349 billion.

Based on the IRICA data, Iran imported $16.783 billion worth of goods, while exporting $13.566 billion in the mentioned six months.

The volume of traded goods was estimated at about 62.842 million tons, of which over 46.318 million tons were related to exports and about 16.524 million tons were imported goods.

EF/MA