TEHRAN- The value of Iran’s non-oil trade increased 98 percent during the sixth Iranian calendar month Shahrivar (August 23-September 22), as compared to the fifth month, the spokesman of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) announced.

Ruhollah Latifi put Iran’s non-oil trade at 19.841 million tons worth $10.635 billion in the sixth month, also indicating 135 percent growth in terms of weight as compared to the fifth month.

He said 14.522 million tons of commodities worth $4.145 billion were exported in the sixth month, with 25 percent and 103 percent growth from its previous month.

The official put the monthly non-oil imports at 5.319 million tons worth $6.49 billion in Shahrivar, with 216 percent rise in value, and 306 percent growth in weight.

As previously announced by the IRICA head, the value of Iran’s non-oil trade rose 47 percent during the first half of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-September 22), as compared to the same period of time in the past year.

Mehdi Mir-Ashrafi said that Iran has traded 79.1 million tons of non-oil products worth $45 billion with other countries in the mentioned period.

The official put the six-month non-oil exports at 60 million tons valued at $21.8 billion, with a 61-percent rise in value and a 30-percent growth in weight.

The IRICA head mentioned liquefied natural gas, methanol, polyethylene, semi-finished iron products, iron ingots, propane, urea, gasoline, iron rods and cathodes as the main exported products in the said time span.

He said major export destinations of the Iranian non-oil goods were China with about 14.8 million tons worth $6.5 billion, Iraq with 13.9 million tons worth $3.8 billion, Turkey with 7.2 million tons worth $2.3 billion, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with 5.8 million tons worth $2.2 billion, and Afghanistan with 2.5 million tons worth $1.0 billion.

The official further announced that Iran has imported 19.1 million tons of non-oil commodities worth $23.1 billion in the first six months of the present year, with a 37-percent growth in value and a 15-percent rise in weight year on year.

Mir-Ashrafi named cellphones, livestock corn, sunflower oil, barley, meal, wheat, soybeans, sugar, palm oil, and rice as the main imported commodities.

The United Arab Emirates with 5.9 million tons of goods worth $7.3 billion was the top exporter to Iran in the said period, followed by China with 1.5 million tons of goods worth $5.0 billion, Turkey with 2.1 million tons worth $2.4 billion, and Switzerland with one million tons worth $900,000, the official stated.

According to the official, out of the total 19.1 million tons of goods imported into the country in the first six months of this year, 14.3 million worth $8.9 billion were basic goods, which constitutes 75 percent of the total imported goods.

The IRICA head has announced that the value of Iran’s non-oil trade stood at $73 billion in the past Iranian calendar year.

Mir-Ashrafi has put the weight of non-oil trade at 146.4 million tons, and said that the figure shows a 25-million-ton annual decline, which is the result of sanctions and coronavirus pandemic.

Iran’s non-oil export was 112 million tons valued at $34.5 billion, and that of import was 34.4 million tons worth $38.5 billion in the past year, the official added.

Among the country’s non-oil export destinations, China was the first, with importing $8.9 billion worth of products, Iraq was the second with importing $7.3 billion, the United Arab Emirates the third with importing $4.6 billion, Turkey the fourth with importing $2.5 billion, and Afghanistan the fifth with importing $2.2 billion, Mir-Ashrafi announced, and named gasoline, natural gas, polyethylene, propane, and pistachio as Iran’s major exported products during the past year.

He further named Iran’s top sources of non-oil imports in the said time, as China with exporting $9.7 billion worth of products to the Islamic Republic, the UAE with $9.6 billion, Turkey with $4.3 billion, India with $2.1 billion, and Germany with $1.8 billion, respectively, and mentioned corn, cellphone, rice, oil meal and oil seeds, wheat, and raw oil as the major imported items.

MA/MA